Pain with tox/filler injections?

[Anonymous]

Had an injectables consult earlier this week. I've never had botox or fillers before. I'm 53, and finally considering it (as well as surgery). As we were finishing up, she said something that caught me off guard, something about "If you can't handle all of it, we can have you come back for a different appointment for some of it. Less sticks." It hadn't occurred to me that it would be painful enough that I wouldn't be able to get all of the recommended injections in one go, and they didn't recommend a particularly large number of them. I am not particularly afraid of needles, but don't love them either. I did manage to get a small tattoo -- it can't be worse than that, right?

Is this a bigger deal than I had realized pain-wise?

[Anonymous]

Oh gosh it's nothing like a tattoo. It's more like acupuncture. Tiny needles that barely hurt. Every once in a while a spot hurts a little bit, but maybe like 50% of the pain of a vaccination.

[Anonymous]

The injections really aren’t bad; just a little pinchy. My injector applies a numbing cream beforehand and lets it sit for about 20 minutes. That helps to minimize the pain (but doesn’t totally eliminate it).
I’d rather get all the injections at once rather than making multiple trips!
Remember to avoid any OTC medication that will cause bruising (mainly ibuprofen) for about 7-10 days beforehand. Otherwise you’ll end up with bruising at the injection sites.

[Anonymous]

I barely feel most of the injections, but the ones right above my eyebrows always hurt.

[Anonymous]

It doesnt hurt that bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh gosh it's nothing like a tattoo. It's more like acupuncture. Tiny needles that barely hurt. Every once in a while a spot hurts a little bit, but maybe like 50% of the pain of a vaccination.

OP here.

Thanks. This is really helpful. I've had acupuncture and didn't find it to be much pain at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The injections really aren’t bad; just a little pinchy. My injector applies a numbing cream beforehand and lets it sit for about 20 minutes. That helps to minimize the pain (but doesn’t totally eliminate it).
I’d rather get all the injections at once rather than making multiple trips!
Remember to avoid any OTC medication that will cause bruising (mainly ibuprofen) for about 7-10 days beforehand. Otherwise you’ll end up with bruising at the injection sites.

Super helpful. This was the conversation I had with her, I was like "Wait, how long does this take? To do all of this?" and she said "Twenty minutes," and I said "Why would I want to come back for multiple appointments if I can pay for it all at once?" and she started saying stuff about "too many sticks" and "it just depends on what you can handle" and that's when I got confused/worried. I actually had a steroid injection in my head this week and did fine with it, lol, so I think I'll be ok with tox injections.

Thanks for the info about the OTC causing bruising. They didn't mention that (nor did the folks at the other place I did a cosmetic consult).

[Anonymous]

Avoid aspirin or blood thinning vitamins for a few days if that is safe for you. It increases bruising. The filler does hurt some in areas around mouth.

[Anonymous]

Botox just feels like a little pinch, it’s nothing. I had lip filler and that hurt like crazy though. But it probably depends on your injection site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh gosh it's nothing like a tattoo. It's more like acupuncture. Tiny needles that barely hurt. Every once in a while a spot hurts a little bit, but maybe like 50% of the pain of a vaccination.

You clearly haven’t had filler or Botox anywhere other than your forehead. I have a high pain threshold- I didn’t even take painkillers after my two c-sections. I find Botox anywhere other than the forehead to be definitely more painful than acupuncture. Fillers are pretty darn painful, even with the lidocaine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh gosh it's nothing like a tattoo. It's more like acupuncture. Tiny needles that barely hurt. Every once in a while a spot hurts a little bit, but maybe like 50% of the pain of a vaccination.

You clearly haven’t had filler or Botox anywhere other than your forehead. I have a high pain threshold- I didn’t even take painkillers after my two c-sections. I find Botox anywhere other than the forehead to be definitely more painful than acupuncture. Fillers are pretty darn painful, even with the lidocaine.

This is helpful. Thanks.

Sounds like there is a difference between Botox and fillers pain-wise. This is OP, and at the appointment she did mention something about fillers being right on bone, and that contributing to it hurting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh gosh it's nothing like a tattoo. It's more like acupuncture. Tiny needles that barely hurt. Every once in a while a spot hurts a little bit, but maybe like 50% of the pain of a vaccination.

You clearly haven’t had filler or Botox anywhere other than your forehead. I have a high pain threshold- I didn’t even take painkillers after my two c-sections. I find Botox anywhere other than the forehead to be definitely more painful than acupuncture. Fillers are pretty darn painful, even with the lidocaine.

+1

Definitely hurts. Get numbing cream. But you’ll be fine to do it all at once.

[Anonymous]

Botox isn't bad at all, and the forehead is the least painful site.

I've had lip filler and cheek filler. Filler hurts a lot IMO - especially lips - and I feel like I have a pretty high pain threshold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh gosh it's nothing like a tattoo. It's more like acupuncture. Tiny needles that barely hurt. Every once in a while a spot hurts a little bit, but maybe like 50% of the pain of a vaccination.

You clearly haven’t had filler or Botox anywhere other than your forehead. I have a high pain threshold- I didn’t even take painkillers after my two c-sections. I find Botox anywhere other than the forehead to be definitely more painful than acupuncture. Fillers are pretty darn painful, even with the lidocaine.

What a bizarre comment. NP here. I didn’t take painkillers after childbirth and my epidural didn’t take (long story). Botox is fine. I actually find forehead to be most painful and it’s fine and totally bearable.

Haven’t had fillers though so I can’t speak for the pain levels there.

[Anonymous]

I've only had botox, not fillers. Pretty much no pain, except one injector who would do high up on forehead, near my hair line, but it was manageable, and another who would do bunny nose injections. The rest of the forehead, crows, and 11s pretty painless, and I've used 5 different ppl (due to moving).