A woman has issued a stark warning to others after she claimed that her botched Botox injections left her with a ‘frozen’ face and completely different smile.
Bailey Turner, 27, from Dallas, Texas, decided to get Botox in 2023 in an attempt to combat her jaw pain per the recommendation of her dentist.
But she has now claimed that a mishap during the procedure altered her appearance and left her unrecognizable.
While chatting with the Daily Mail about it, she explained that she started suffering from severe pain in her jaw in 2017 due to teeth grinding and was ultimately diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ).
After years of battling jaw tension and soreness, as well as frequent headaches, her dentist recommended she try Botox to alleviate her symptoms.
‘It’s become a pretty common treatment for relaxing the masseter muscle and helping with clenching,’ she explained.
She paid ‘a few hundred dollars’ and got injections on both sides of her jaw, and about a week later, her symptoms started to disappear.
‘It helped reduce the tension and clenching in my jaw,’ she explained. ‘The muscles definitely relaxed and I noticed less tightness.’
After Bailey Turner, 27, got Botox in her jaw to alleviate pain, she said she wasn’t able to fully smile and felt like her face was ‘frozen.’ She’s seen before (l) and after (r) the injections
However, her relief soon turned to horror when she developed sudden paralysis in her face.
‘A few weeks after the injections, I noticed I wasn’t able to fully smile. It felt like my face was frozen,’ she revealed.
‘I was confused and a little concerned because my smile had never looked like that before.’
Turner explained that while her physical pain was gone, looking in the mirror and not recognizing her own smile brought immense mental pain.
She noted that she was not warned about the potential side effects by the doctor before getting the Botox.
She later learned it was likely caused by the Botox ‘diffusing into nearby muscles that affect your smile,’ which usually occurs when an improper injection technique is used, or by the ‘incorrect muscle being injected.’
Thankfully, it was only temporary and gradually wore off as the Botox dissolved.
Now, she is warning others about the potential reaction. She recently opened up about it on TikTok, where her video went viral, raking in more than 435,000 views.
She learned it was likely caused by the Botox ‘diffusing into nearby muscles that affect your smile’ or by the ‘incorrect muscle being injected.’ She’s seen before (l) and after (r) the Botox
She showed before and after photos of her smile, writing in the caption: ‘I got masseter Botox for TMJ pain and left with a frozen face.’
Many people were quick to thank her for sharing her story in the comment section, with one user gushing: ‘Thank you for de-influencing me, seriously, I’ve never seen this.’
Some admitted that they were now ‘scared’ to get Botox, while others shared their own similar experiences.
Another comment read: ‘Omg this happened to me too. And right before I went on a trip to Spain so I had to smile with no teeth.’
‘I thought it was just me,’ said someone else.
‘Feels like my face never recovered,’ announced a different user.
Looking back, Turner told the Daily Mail that she wished she ‘asked more questions,’ went to a specialist or started with a ‘more conservative dose.’
‘Make sure you go to someone very experienced with TMJ Botox and ask detailed questions about placement, dosage and potential side effects beforehand,’ she suggested.
