Juvaderm Collagen Injections post facial paralysis

[CROOKEDSMILE]

I go to a plastic surgeon here in town on the 11th for collagen injections to the nasolabial fold line which has deepened drastically due to paralysis and to get injections to the lips which have thinned. It is not covered by insurance and is quite expensive but I look 15 years older on my paralyzed side. I was wondering if anyone else has had this done and did they like the results. It only last about 4-5 months and has to be repeated.
Angie

[saralynn143]

Do I understand correctly that your nasolabial fold is deeper on your paralyzed side? That is interesting -- mine is still nigh inexistent on my left side.

Sara

[CROOKEDSMILE]

Hey Sara,
Yeah. The crease has become pretty deep. Makes me look old on one side of my face. It used to be nonexistent and I was so happy when it returned but now it is very pronounced?!?!?
Angie

[konnie]

HI  Angie
I have been reading some of your posts and my heart goes out to you..
I was fortuante not to have the facial peralises like you have, but i remember the doctor telling me that their might be a possability
for this to happen... I  remember feeling so devistated. ( my entire idenity was my looks) as shallow as that sounded at the time...
I remember praying to God for this not to happen and if it did, if he would give me the strength and wisdom to  get through it..
I am a little over 3 months out.  I had lost alot of weight and my face started to look sunken in and my eyes drooped.  I to looked 10 years older..
after my surgery one of the first things people would say was how sunken in my face had appeard.
 I would try to come back with a positive reply by saying. "ya but at least Im still alive."

 after a while it does wear at you and every time you brush your teeth in the morning you see that same old sunken in face
stering back at you.  you long for the old you...
So i had Botox injections around my eye area and forhead...along with Radiess fillers for my cheeks ...
this was my Birthday present to my self at age 45....
It was the best present I have ever had I am soooooooo  pleased..
I am still not like i was pre surgery but that is ok ... I LIKE WHO I AM ON THE INSIDE..   Now i can brush my teeth every morning with a smile  my inner beauty  now matches my outer beauty.

 I  am still working on me. the new me. as silly as it sounds at my age 45," Its not all about how i look on the outside".
 its whats on the inside......This is truly what people see.........
I think that was a leson in its self for me... my inner beauty is mutch more powerful then the outer and this last a  life time.
Konnie

[CROOKEDSMILE]

Thanks Konnie.
I am 37 and this has been hard. I don't even dress up anymore. I use to lOVE fashion and now just go to my warm up drawer and tennis shoes. I don't want to draw attention to ME by wearing a nice outfit I'd rather just blend in. I was due to get my injections on the 11th but I wanted to talk to my facial therapist about it first to make sure it is okay. I would love to have a face lift on the bad side but she said to wait 2 more years. I just can't imagine continued healing out that far but I guess I will wait. For now....I will hopefully get to do the juvaderm next week when I return from facial therapy. It is very expensive at $550 a vial and usually takes 2 vials. Results last 6-9 months so I've been told. We will see.
Angie

[amymeri]

I am having the juvaderm tomorrow for my lips which have thinned on the paralyzed side (so I look like I am sneering and can't close my mouth) and maybe for the deeper nasolabial fold.  My insurance is considering paying ( because my teeth are so exposed it causes dryness which leads to mouth problems) but meanwhile my plastics doc is giving me a sample bottle to see if it helps.  I am getting my regular botox, too.

Last spring I got a fat injection in my upper lip.  It was supposed to last a long time...maybe forever....but lasted about 2 weeks.  I liked it for those 2 weeks, though.

I will let you know how it goes.

[amymeri]

Just got back from my doctor.  I got almost an entire vial of juvaderm in my upper and lower lip.  Painless because my lips are numb.  Filled my lips out smoothly but I probably will need more.  It just won't fill in the space left by the thinned lips and by the pulling down of my lower lip and up of my upper.  Had some botox to see if that will help as well.  Put some in my nasolabial fold to soften it (my cheek pulls there causing a deeper fissure) and a ton in my chin and we try and try to get that depressor muscle to relax. 

I will report back in a couple days to let you know...I used ice for an hour so my swelling is very minimal so far.  Couldve gone to work today, probably.  Of course, I might LIKE the swelling because it would fill in that darn space...

[CROOKEDSMILE]

So would one vial take care of my upper lip? It seems like if my lips were plumper that drinking from a glass would be easier. Is that true? How do you explain to the doctor the size that you want? My bottom lip hasn't been affected just my top lip has thinned. How many vials usually for the line down by the nose to the mouth? What do they give you to numb you ? How long did they tell you it would last? How are you getting insurance to cover it? They were even going to inject the back of my throat with collagen to help with my voice. It fattens the back of the throat preventing escape of air from the floppy side but you go under general anesthesia and don't want that just yet. (done by ENT)
Angie

[amymeri]

Hi Angie

I think I would need a whole vial in each lip (the thinning is just on the affected side) because there is a pretty big gap where my mouth wont close.  I am happy to report that within 1 day I haven't had to use a straw after 2.5 years of straw slavery.  Now, I drink BETTER with a straw, it isn't perfect, but I haven't used a straw in a couple days and it hasn't been a disaster.

I don't know how much they would use for the nasolabial line, but the botox in the fold worked like a charm and now I would say my fold is 50% better.  Even though I am still bruised I feel SO MUCH BETTER.  This has been my best session yet. 

Two people commented that my face looks practically normal again and I am actually pleased when I look in the mirror!!!   

I also go some botox on my good side (there was some left over so we used that) to even out my eyebrows and it worked great.

I hope your results are as good or even better than mine!  If mine don't last I am going for another fat injection.  Those can last for years if you are lucky.  My last one didn't but he said the fat was kind of liquidy and probly the cells were too damaged to take. 

You can see the results immediately (although not totally settled and perfect) so they can tell by looking.  They use lidocaine to numb you (I didn't need it) for the juvaderm and my insurance didn't pay...they gave me a free sample and then will charge me their cost with no markup if I can't get insurance to pay up.  Insurance DID pay for the fat injection, though.

Amy

[lifeisgood]

I wanted to chime in here on the treatments.
I also have a really heavy line on my "affected" side.
When I close my eye at night, that area tightens and I wake up with
no line on my left side but heavy on the other.
I've thought about getting the injections.

I also get botox.  Ok,. I decided to go to a plastic surgeon here in Florida to get it.  That's how paranoid I was.
I used to drive to see Jackie Diels, she would mark my face where she wanted her friend the optomotrist (SP?) to shoot me with the botox.
I had these treatments well over 2 years ago.  At 44, I have much heavier forehead lines on the UN affected side.  I am smooth as can be on the affected side.  I just have the heavy "smile" line to contend with that as we know is not actually from smiling.  Can it be any more confusing?

Anyway, I got the injections yesterday.  He shot into many different areas including into the dimple on my chin.  It usually takes about 4 days but today, I have NO lines on my forehead.  The issue is that my eyebrow on the right side is no higher than the left when I smile. My eye seems to be looking different too.  I imagine that things will subside but I just wanted to post this to let others know that botox can be complicated if you have synkinesis.  It will wear off in 4-6 months.  I really don't want to march into his office and have him try to compensate because you just never know what i will end up looking like.     I could end up smiling with both sides of my mouth turning downward.

Oh, the joys of aging.

Take care,
Mary

[amymeri]

Botox is such a trial and error thing.  I have it done differently every time because my face changes and because we work off the last session.  Initially, I got many shots near my eyes for the smile/eye/cheek synkinesis, as well as in my neck and chin and by my nose.  I mean lots and lots of shots but different every time.  I get it on my good side sometimes to balance out my face, etc.

Once i got it on my affected eyebrow because it crinkled up wierdly when I smiled and made me look evil but havent had to repeat it since.  So each session (and I have them every 3 months) is unique.  I don't have a formula that we follow.

It takes TONS of communication and feedback and working together to get it right...This has been my most successful session.  A couple units of botox in my nasolabial fold erased that deep  crease and helped lower my lip from its sneer.  My smile is a bit more lopsided but my resting mouth is SOOOOO much better and that, along with the Juvaderm, has been wonderful!  I even wrote a THANK YOU note to my doctor because it was his idea to do the botox in the nasolabial fold (I was nervous about it) and it was such an improvement.   

The key is finding a doctor that will work with you and adapt and use your feedback...and one who REALLY understands facial muscles (that's why I like plastic surgeons). 

I was surprised an optometrist gave you botox?  That seems unusual.

Amy