Why should I avoid facial massage after jaw botox?

After botox or botulinum toxin injection, it is generally advised to avoid lying down and massaging over the area.

The main reason for this is to prevent the botulinum toxin from migrating away from the intended treatment area to the surrounding muscles. This will allow you to maximize the effects on the botulinum toxin on the targeted site and prevent it from affecting the surrounding non-targeted areas and hence minimize its unwanted effects on these areas.

The Botox may spread to areas like other muscles that you don't want to be affected. It may lead to side effects like an asymmetrical smile. Now the good thing is that usually Botox is absorbed by the muscle within a few days to a week. And then after, no matter how much you massage simply leaving it alone, it makes no difference.

So you don't have to avoid facial massage forever after your Botox procedure. Just for maybe the first week or so. After that, the Botox will be absorbed or bound onto the receptors on the muscle and it's not going to migrate any further. There's no risk of migration after that. I usually tell my patients not to have the massage for one to two weeks.