Anti-wrinkle aftercare advice: the sheet to send every patient

Every anti-wrinkle patient should leave your clinic with the same written aftercare advice, every time. Verbal guidance gets half-remembered, and a patient who rubs the treated area or lies down for a nap an hour later may blame the result on your technique rather than their own aftercare. Consistent written advice protects the result, manages expectations about how long botulinum toxin takes to work, and protects you: if a complaint arises, you can show exactly what the patient was told and when. Patients often search for this as “Botox aftercare”; whatever product you use, the sheet works the same way. The sheet below is complete and uncontroversial. Fill in your clinic’s details, set the timings to your prescriber’s protocol, and send it after every appointment.

The aftercare sheet (copy, fill in and send)

Your clinic’s details

Clinic name: ___________________________

Clinic phone: ___________________________

Urgent / out-of-hours contact number: ___________________________

Email: ___________________________

Treating practitioner: ___________________________

Your treatment

Date of treatment: ___________________________

Areas treated: ___________________________

Review appointment (usually 2 to 3 weeks after treatment): ___________________________

Aftercare after your anti-wrinkle treatment

Your treatment is done, and the next few hours and days matter for your result. Please follow this advice and contact us if anything is unclear.

What is normal

• Small raised bumps at the injection points, which usually settle within an hour or so.
• Mild redness, tenderness or a small bruise at an injection point, fading over a few days. Bruises can be covered with makeup once the injection points have closed.
• A mild, dull headache on the day of treatment, which is more common after a first appointment and passes quickly. Paracetamol is fine if you need it, unless you have been told not to take it.
• A gradual effect. You may notice the first changes from around day 2 to 3, with the full effect taking up to 2 weeks. Please do not judge your result before then.
• Slight unevenness while the treatment takes effect during the first two weeks.
• Results typically last around 3 to 4 months, though this varies between people. Book your next appointment when movement starts to return rather than waiting for lines to fully re-establish.

What to avoid, and for how long

• For ___ hours (commonly 4): stay upright. Avoid lying down, napping or bending forward for long periods.
• For ___ days (commonly 3): do not rub, massage or press on the treated areas. This includes vigorous cleansing, tight headwear and pressing your face into your hands. Rubbing can spread the product beyond where it was placed.
• For ___ hours (commonly 24): avoid alcohol, as it can increase the chance of bruising.
• For ___ days (commonly 2): avoid strenuous exercise, saunas, steam rooms, sunbeds and very hot baths or showers. A gentle walk is fine; the gym, running and hot yoga are not.
• For ___ weeks (commonly 2): avoid facials, facial massage, microdermabrasion and any treatment that applies pressure to the treated area, unless we have agreed it.
• Makeup can usually be applied gently after a few hours, once the injection points have closed, using clean brushes. If in doubt, wait until the next day.

Your review

We may offer a review around 2 to 3 weeks after treatment. If a top-up is needed, this is when it is assessed; adjustments made too early or too late are less reliable.

Contact us as soon as possible if you notice

• A heavy or drooping eyelid or brow.
• Blurred or double vision.
• A rash, itching or swelling that could be an allergic reaction.
• Anything that feels significantly worse rather than better as the days pass.
• Anything that worries you.

Seek urgent medical help if

• You have difficulty swallowing or speaking, or new muscle weakness. Contact us and seek urgent medical help straight away; if you cannot reach us, call NHS 111 or go to A&E.
• You have any difficulty breathing, or swelling of your face, lips, tongue or throat. Call 999 immediately. Do not wait for the clinic to open.

These problems are uncommon, and they can appear hours to weeks after treatment. Please tell any doctor who treats you that you have had botulinum toxin injections, and when.

Your practitioner’s specific advice takes precedence over this general sheet. If anything worries you, contact us; that is what we are here for.

Filling in the sheet

The timings above are common conventions in UK practice rather than fixed rules, which is why they are blanks with defaults. Set them to your prescriber’s protocol and check them against the product information for the toxin you use, so the sheet matches what your team says in the chair. Put your real out-of-hours arrangement in the urgent contact line; if you do not offer out-of-hours cover, say so and direct patients to NHS 111 or A&E. Date the version of the sheet so you can show which wording a patient received. Keep the language factual: botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine, and UK law and the advertising codes do not allow prescription-only medicines to be promoted to the public, so a sheet that goes to patients should inform, not sell.

When patients should contact you urgently

The escalation points worth repeating to your team: eyelid or brow ptosis, any visual disturbance, difficulty swallowing, speaking or breathing, and signs of allergic reaction. The product information for botulinum toxin products warns that, very rarely, the effect can spread beyond the treated area, and that these symptoms can appear hours to weeks after injection. Breathing difficulty is a 999 instruction, not a callback. None of these should be triaged by reception as routine; they need practitioner review, and visual or airway symptoms need same-day attention. Equally important is the paper trail. Record that aftercare advice was given, in what form, and on what date. If a patient later claims they were never told to avoid rubbing the area, a timestamped record of the sheet being sent settles the question in seconds.

Make this automatic

AesthetiClinic emails this aftercare sheet automatically after every appointment, branded to your clinic, and records on the patient record that it was sent and when. No one on your team has to remember, and the documentation takes care of itself. See how it works on our features page, and pair it with our anti-wrinkle consent form template so the whole treatment journey is covered in writing. You can chart the points you treated on our face map template. AesthetiClinic’s consent forms software uses the same secure links, so the e-signed consent and the aftercare sheet sit on one patient record.

General aftercare guidance for UK aesthetics practice. Your practitioner’s specific advice always takes precedence. Patients with urgent symptoms should contact their practitioner or seek medical care immediately.