From wobbly eyes to paralyzed mouths: the terrifying effects of Botox gone wrong… and how to prevent it from happening to you

It’s used by millions of people to banish wrinkles and smooth lines, but the cosmetic treatment can have frightening side effects.

Horror stories of drooping eyelids and frozen mouths after Botox injections have flooded social media in recent months, while a string of celebrities have also revealed botched procedures.

Singer Meghan Trainor, 30, admitted she ‘can’t smile anymore’ after getting ‘too much Botox’ and having filler applied ‘right above’ her upper lip.

Made in Chelsea star Sophie Habboo has also admitted she had an ‘accident’ with the injectable after her dentist suggested that jabs in her jaw muscle could help her stop her teeth grinding.

Speaking about the Wednesday Podcast she said, “My smile was frozen. When my mouth was closed it looked normal, but everyone else wondered what was going on with my smile; it took six months.

Botulinum toxin (commonly known as Botox) costs between £100 and £300 per area and is used to relax the muscles in the face and smooth out lines and wrinkles.

It can also be used to treat jaw pain, cramps and migraines.

But as dozens of young women in their 20s use the treatment for ‘preventative’ wrinkle smoothing, experts have warned the jabs come with serious risks.

Side effects include headaches, a ‘frozen’ face, nerve damage, bruising and swelling.

Aesthetic nurse Amanda Azzopardi, who offers Botox at her clinics across London, Liverpool and North Wales, has urged patients to go to ‘an injector who knows their anatomy very well’ to avoid complications.

‘Botox is a prescription medicine and must be prescribed in the correct dose for each individual client,’ she told MailOnline.

It’s easy to inject too much – and this can cause asymmetry due to differences in muscle strength on either side of the face.

This causes patients to develop crooked smiles and droopy eyelids, she added.

Patients have taken to social media to reveal the horrific consequences of their failed jobs.

One social media user mentioned @Raiinnna_ shared shocking before and after images on TikTok, documenting the aftermath of her Botox injections into the masseter muscle, which is located in the jaw and helps us chew.

Botox in this area of ​​the face can help relieve teeth grinding and clenching and relieve tension headaches. It is also offered with square contour jaws to create a more symmetrical face shape.

In the video, she warned her 204,000 followers about the procedure and revealed she still can’t smile three weeks later.

This can happen when the Botox is injected into the zygomatic muscle – which controls movement in the cheeks and sits just below the chewing muscles – causing it to relax and reduce the width of the smile.

Similar videos show how Botox in the forehead can cause eyelids to droop if administered incorrectly.

Social media user @justjennie77 shared her Botox mishap to TikTok to warn others about the possible side effects.

The video shows her revealing her slightly drooping eyelids, which she says is a dramatic change.

She said: ‘To anyone thinking about getting Botox, check this out, it might make you reconsider. By the way, I had very good eyelids.

She raised her eyebrows with her finger and exclaimed, “That’s how I used to be.”

She added, “Where did they go! I have no eyelids.’

One popular TikTok account, @ultimatebykomiwhich shares videos of “beauty gone wrong,” shared a clip of a woman with uneven eyes after a Botox treatment.

The woman said: ‘This is a Botox procedure that I did a week ago, it was injected in the wrong place, which left me with a droopy eye and also a bigger eye.

‘I called my GP because I was very scared, this has never happened to me before. That’s why he prescribed me medication that I have been taking for a week now.

“I just want to raise awareness before you go to a place to get your Botox done, try to research the area and who the injector is.”

One way to avoid this is to get only a small amount of Botox at a time, Ms. Azzopardi suggests.

She said: ‘If you inject a small amount, it can always be added within two weeks. It takes two weeks for the product to take full effect.’

Ms Azzopardi explained that having too much Botox in your forehead or jaw can be particularly risky and cause lumps and bumps.

‘Sometimes the muscles in the lower face have different strength on each side, so if you inject a little more on one side than the other, or if the muscle on one side is stronger or weaker, you get a crooked smile. she said.

Botox on the forehead or around the eyes can affect the muscles that animate this part of the face.

‘If you inject the forehead muscle too low, the toxin will diffuse into the orbicularis oculi muscle that circles the eye and this can cause eyelid ptosis (droopy eyes)’.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) explains that this drooping eyelid only occurs in one in 100 cases and can be corrected with eye drops and will improve as the effects of Botox wear off, which can take three to four months.

Anyone can legally give Botox in the UK, including non-medical professionals such as beauticians.

However, because it is a prescription drug, it must still be prescribed by a medical professional, such as a doctor, dentist, pharmacist, or nurse prescriber.

Campaigners want to see a licensing regime for companies and private individuals offering these treatments to protect Britons.

An estimated 900,000 Botox injections are performed in the UK every year, most of which are without patient complaints.

But Save Face – a government-approved register of licensed practitioners – received almost 3,000 complaints in 2022 alone, with more than two-thirds of those complaints relating to fillers and almost a quarter relating to Botox.