Blog · Botox
Most Botox prep is about what you tell your physician, not what you give up. The Medication Guide for Xeomin, one of our two Botox brands, and the American Academy of Dermatology both ask for your full list of medicines and supplements. This guide covers what to pause, what to keep, and how to get ready for your first visit for Botox in Lutz. For what to do once treatment is over, see our Botox aftercare guide.
| When | What to do or avoid |
|---|---|
| When you book | Mention every prescription, over-the-counter medicine, and supplement, plus pregnancy or breastfeeding and any botulinum toxin treatment in the last four months |
| About a week before | Ask before pausing nonessential fish oil, vitamin E, and aspirin, ibuprofen, or other NSAID pain relievers you take on your own. Keep every prescribed medicine |
| 24 to 48 hours before | Skip alcohol, which MeliOra’s pre-visit checklist lists among the bruise-makers, and drink plenty of water |
| Day of your visit | Clean skin on the treatment areas, no makeup there if you can manage it, and your medication list and questions ready |
| Any time before | Tell Dr. Espinet about a rash, infection, or irritation where you’d be treated, and about any facial procedure you have planned |
Booking for a wedding or a big event? Plan at least two weeks ahead, so your results have settled by the day. Our guide to how long Botox takes to work walks through the timeline.
Any injection can leave a small bruise. The Jeuveau label lists bleeding and bruising among the effects the injection itself can cause, and products that affect blood clotting can make a bruise more likely. That is why your medication list matters so much.
A panel of aesthetic physicians in Australia and New Zealand who wrote consensus advice on facial injections suggests that avoiding nonessential over-the-counter products that may affect clotting, such as fish oil and vitamin E, for about a week before Botox may help lower the risk of bruising. The panel adds that one week is enough for stopping nonessential aspirin and other NSAID pain relievers, such as ibuprofen.
Note the word nonessential. That advice is about optional products you chose yourself, not medicines a doctor prescribed for you. If you take a prescribed blood thinner, keep taking it unless the doctor who prescribed it says otherwise. A bruise is temporary, and the reason you take that medicine is not. MeliOra’s rule is simple: never stop a prescribed medicine on your own.
The AAD asks patients to share pain relievers, blood thinners, aspirin, and every herb, vitamin, and mineral, even ones they haven’t taken for a while. If you’re not sure whether something counts as prescribed or optional, ask the doctor who prescribed it.
Alcohol is the other common question. MeliOra’s pre-visit checklist lists alcohol in the 24 to 48 hours before treatment among the bruise-makers, along with fish oil and other blood-thinning supplements. Timing before and after your visit is covered in Botox and alcohol.
Yes, as far as the guidance we follow goes. Neither the FDA labels for Jeuveau and Xeomin nor the AAD’s preparation advice asks you to skip exercise before treatment. The exercise limit comes after: save strenuous workouts, saunas, and hot yoga for the next day, as the aftercare guide explains.
If you want to work out on the day of your visit, mention it when you book, and Dr. Espinet will advise on timing. A workout before your appointment, rather than after, keeps you clear of the after-Botox window. Wash your face afterward, so the treatment areas are clean.
Some medicines and health conditions change how Botox works or how safe it is for you. The Xeomin Medication Guide asks you to tell your provider if you:
According to the labels, treatment should not go ahead while you have an infection where you’d be treated, and it isn’t for you if you’ve had an allergic reaction to any botulinum toxin product. Pregnancy and breastfeeding have their own guide: Botox while pregnant or breastfeeding. If needles have ever made you faint, say so. The Jeuveau label notes that needle-related pain or anxiety can cause fainting in some people, so Dr. Espinet can plan for it.
Come with clean skin on the areas being treated. The consensus panel advises cleaning dirt and makeup off the skin before injections, so starting clean makes that step quicker. If you can, skip makeup on those areas that day.
Tell Dr. Espinet about any other facial treatment you’ve had recently or have planned. The AAD asks patients to share past surgeries and cosmetic treatments, even ones that seem minor, because they can affect results. The consensus panel suggests finishing treatments that act on the skin’s surface, such as laser treatment, before Botox rather than right after.
Arnica is popular online, but a 2025 review found that the evidence it reduces bruising or swelling after cosmetic injections is limited and inconclusive. It isn’t a substitute for sharing your medication list. If you take it, mention it at your visit like any other supplement.
The free Botox guide has these steps as a fillable checklist, along with a face map of typical units.
Your first visit starts with a conversation, not a needle. Dr. Melanie Espinet, a board-certified family physician, reviews your health history and medication list. Then she asks you to frown, raise your brows, and smile, so she can see where lines form. You agree on the product, the areas, the units, and your total before anything begins.
Pricing is per unit: Botox with Jeuveau or Xeomin is $12/unit, so a frown line treatment at the 20 units both labels list comes to $240. See how many units of Botox you need for other areas. Dr. Espinet comes to your home or office anywhere in Tampa Bay with no travel fee, or you can book a select appointment at the Lutz office. Before your visit ends, she reviews your aftercare with you.
Results start to show in three to seven days and settle by about two weeks. Side effects are usually mild and short-lived; Botox side effects explains what is normal. Not sure it’s the right time to start at all? Our guide to the best age for Botox can help. When you’re ready, book your first Botox appointment.
Before Botox, avoid nonessential products that can make bruising more likely, such as fish oil, vitamin E, and aspirin or ibuprofen you take on your own, for about a week if your physician agrees. MeliOra’s checklist also lists alcohol in the 24 to 48 hours before as a bruise-maker. Never stop a prescribed medicine on your own, and postpone if you have a skin infection where you’d be treated.
No, do not stop a prescribed blood thinner before Botox unless the doctor who prescribed it tells you to. It may make a bruise more likely, but a bruise is temporary and the reason you take the medicine is not. Tell Dr. Espinet what you take so she can plan for it.
Ask first, because ibuprofen and other NSAID pain relievers may make bruising more likely. A consensus panel on facial injections suggests that about a week is enough time to pause nonessential aspirin and other NSAIDs before treatment. If a doctor told you to take one, keep taking it and tell Dr. Espinet.
Yes, you can work out before Botox; neither the Jeuveau and Xeomin labels nor the AAD’s preparation advice restricts it. The limit comes after treatment, when strenuous exercise waits until the next day. If you plan a workout on treatment day, mention it when you book.
It’s best to arrive with clean skin on the treatment areas. Makeup and dirt are cleaned off before injections, so skipping makeup there saves a step.
You don’t need to, because the evidence that arnica reduces bruising after cosmetic injections is inconclusive. A 2025 review found only limited, mixed research. If you take it anyway, list it with your other supplements.
It depends on the illness: both labels say treatment should not go ahead while you have an infection where you’d be injected. For a cold or fever, tell Dr. Espinet before your visit, along with any allergy or cold medicine you take, since the Xeomin Medication Guide asks about those medicines. She will let you know whether to go ahead or reschedule.
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