Complete Botox® Injection Sites Guide: Face Map, Body Areas & What to Avoid

Botox® injection sites span far more of the body than most people expect. Since the FDA first approved botulinum toxin type A for glabellar frown lines in 2002, indications have expanded to more than a dozen cosmetic and medical conditions — living in the forehead, the neck, the underarms, the bladder, and the soles of the feet. Plastic surgeons worldwide administered over 7.3 million Botox injections in 2022, according to Statista, making it the most popular non-invasive aesthetic procedure on the planet.

That popularity creates a false impression that Botox can go anywhere and fix anything. It can’t. Placement is the treatment: the same 20 units that soften an “11” line will drop an eyelid for three months if they land a few millimeters too low. This guide maps every common injection site by region, with typical unit ranges and the reasoning behind each, plus the areas to avoid and why.

Botox Injection Sites: The Quick Map

Botox comes in two distinct formulations. Botox Cosmetic is indicated for glabellar lines, crow’s feet, and forehead lines. Botox Therapeutic covers medical conditions: chronic migraine, cervical dystonia, hyperhidrosis, overactive bladder, blepharospasm, and limb spasticity. Injection sites cluster into five regions:

• Face and forehead — dynamic wrinkles, brow position, gummy smile, jawline
• Neck and shoulders — platysmal bands, cervical dystonia, chronic migraine, trapezius tension
• Underarms and groin — hyperhidrosis
• Hands and feet — palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis
• Abdomen and pelvis — overactive bladder and urinary incontinence

One caveat applies everywhere below: Botox treats dynamic lines caused by muscle movement, not static lines etched by sun damage and volume loss. For a visual breakdown by zone, see our Botox face chart; for the pharmacology, our guide to what Botox is and how it works.

Upper-Face Botox Injection Sites

The upper face holds all three FDA-approved cosmetic indications. It’s also the least forgiving anatomy, because the brow’s elevators and depressors sit in direct opposition.

Glabella — Corrugator Supercilii and Procerus

The glabellar complex produces the vertical “11” lines between the brows — the original approved cosmetic indication and still the most requested. Treatment uses 2 to 3 injections per side into the corrugator supercilii muscle belly, plus 1 to 2 injections into the procerus at the bridge of the nose.

These are relatively deep intramuscular placements, and the critical constraint is the lower boundary: injections drifting toward the orbital rim risk diffusion through the orbital septum into the levator palpebrae superioris, producing true eyelid ptosis. Keep placement above the bony supraorbital rim — a full centimeter above in patients with low-set brows.

Frontalis — Horizontal Forehead Lines

The frontalis is the only elevator of the brow. Typical cosmetic dosing runs 5 to 25 units across 4 to 5 injection points spread laterally, placed superficially into the muscle. Treated for chronic migraine rather than cosmesis, forehead dosing runs higher — commonly 20 to 30 units as one component of a larger protocol.

Frontalis is where restraint pays: because it is the sole brow elevator, over-treatment drops the brow onto the orbit and produces a heavy, hooded look. Stay at least 2 cm above the brow, treat the glabellar depressors in the same session to preserve the elevator/depressor balance, and dose conservatively in patients already recruiting frontalis to hold their brows up.

Lateral Canthal Lines — Crow’s Feet

Crow’s feet arise from the lateral fibers of the orbicularis oculi. Typical dosing is 5 to 15 units per side, delivered as 3 to 4 injections fanned around the lateral orbit plus 1 to 2 in the lateral canthal area.

These are deliberately superficial — intradermal to subcutaneous. The orbicularis is a thin sheet directly beneath the skin, so depth here is a safety mechanism, not a technicality. Stay lateral to the orbital rim, roughly 1 to 1.5 cm from the canthus. Drift anteriorly and inferiorly and you reach the zygomaticus major — the classic post-crow’s-feet crooked smile.

Brow Lift and Lower Eyelid

A chemical brow lift doesn’t lift anything directly — it weakens the depressors so the unopposed frontalis wins. Small units into the lateral orbicularis oculi beneath the brow tail, and into the corrugator and procerus medially, let the brow rise and open the eye. Dose small; a single extra unit changes the result visibly.

Lower-lid treatment for infraorbital orbicularis hypertrophy is advanced, low-unit work with narrow margins. Tauten the lid with the non-dominant hand to create a flat injection field before placing the needle. Poor snap-back on lid distraction testing is a reason to decline.

Mid- and Lower-Face Botox Injection Sites

The lower face is lower-dose, higher-consequence territory: every muscle here participates in smiling, speaking, or eating, so unintended weakening is immediately visible. Most lower-face indications are off-label and should be documented and consented as such.

Bunny Lines — Nasalis

Bunny lines are the wrinkles that fan across the upper nose when you scrunch it. Small doses go into the nasalis on either side of the nasal bridge — never into the bridge itself. Botox can also soften fine lines along the sides of the nose and depress an overactive nasal tip; tip work is tiny, often just 2 injections of about 3 units each. Deeper nasolabial folds resist Botox entirely — those are a filler problem.

Gummy Smile and Lip Flip

Excessive gingival show on smiling comes from an overactive levator labii superioris alaeque nasi complex. Very small doses lateral to the ala reduce lip elevation; a unit or two of overcorrection produces a flattened, immobile upper lip that lasts months.

A lip flip uses multiple very small, superficial injections into the orbicularis oris along the vermilion border, letting the upper lip evert slightly for the appearance of more show without adding volume. It also softens perioral “smoker’s lines,” typically with up to about 6 units. Botox in the body of the lip itself causes bruising, swelling, and problems with drinking and speech — that’s filler territory.

Depressor Anguli Oris — Marionette Lines

The DAO pulls the oral commissures down, producing a permanently sad or stern resting expression. One to two injections per side at the corners of the mouth release the depressor and let the corners sit neutrally.

Placement must stay lateral and low, along the mandibular border. The depressor labii inferioris sits immediately medial, and diffusion into it produces a lower-lip droop and asymmetric smile. If a patient develops a crooked smile after Botox, DAO or zygomaticus involvement is usually why.

Mentalis — Chin Dimpling

The “orange peel” or cobblestone chin is an overactive mentalis. One or two injections deep into the muscle belly, low and central on the chin, smooth the surface. Stay off the mandibular border laterally to avoid the lip depressors.

Masseter — Bruxism, TMJ, and Jawline Slimming

Masseter injection is often therapeutic rather than cosmetic: it treats bruxism, involuntary jaw clenching, and TMJ pain, and slims a square jaw as a side effect. Dosing runs far higher than anywhere else in the face because the muscle is large and dense. A common bruxism protocol addresses three muscles:

• Masseter: ~25 units per side (some cases require 30 units or more)
• Temporalis: ~15 units per side
• Lateral pterygoid: ~10 units per side

Injections go deep — needle to bone, within the safe zone bounded by the mandibular angle and the anterior border of the muscle on clench. Straying anterior and superficial reaches the risorius and zygomaticus and produces smile asymmetry. See our guide to Botox for jaw clenching for the full protocol.

Neck and Body Botox Injection Sites

Platysmal Bands — The Neck

The vertical cords that appear and deepen with age are platysma. Grasping each band between thumb and forefinger and injecting small superficial aliquots along its length — sometimes called a Botox neck lift — softens them and can slightly sharpen the jawline. The platysma sits directly under thin skin, and depth discipline is non-negotiable: beneath it lie the strap muscles of swallowing, and deep or overdosed injection here is the most reliable way to produce dysphagia from a cosmetic treatment.

Trapezius, Sternocleidomastoid, and Splenius Capitis

• Cervical dystonia — sternocleidomastoid, trapezius, and splenius capitis, dosed by the pattern of abnormal posturing
• Chronic migraine — often driven by neck muscle spasm; the protocol includes cervical and occipital sites alongside frontalis and temporalis, and occipital nerve injections may be indicated depending on the origin of the pain. See our guide on Botox for migraines for the full site map.
• Trapezius tension and shoulder slimming — an increasingly requested off-label use for hypertrophic upper traps

Axillary Hyperhidrosis — The Underarms

Severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis is FDA-approved. Because Botox blocks acetylcholine at eccrine sweat glands as well as at the neuromuscular junction, it shuts down focal sweating effectively. Technique differs from facial work: multiple small intradermal blebs in a grid across the affected area, mapped with a starch-iodine test rather than by anatomy. The target is the gland, not a muscle, so going deeper is going wrong. Results here often outlast cosmetic results substantially. The groin is treated the same way and, like the axilla, requires higher doses than the delicate areas of the face.

Palms and Soles

Palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis respond to the same intradermal grid, with two caveats: injections must avoid major nerve and blood vessel pathways, and these are among the most painful sites on the body — nerve block or aggressive topical anesthesia is standard. In the hand, diffusion into the thenar muscles can cause temporary grip weakness. Discuss it before, not after.

The Bladder, Blepharospasm, and Strabismus

Intradetrusor injection was among the first therapeutic Botox indications and remains FDA-approved: Botox is placed into the detrusor muscle of the bladder wall across multiple sites, delivered via cystoscopy. It is a urologic procedure, not an aesthetic one, and the trade-off is real — over-relaxation of the detrusor can cause urinary retention severe enough to require intermittent catheterization. Therapeutic Botox is also placed around the eye for blepharospasm and into the extraocular muscles for strabismus — the original approved indications, both requiring specialist training beyond a cosmetic course.

Areas to Avoid: Botox Danger Zones

Few facial regions are absolutely off-limits, but plenty of structures within otherwise safe regions are. Almost every bad Botox outcome comes from diffusion into a muscle that was never the target.

Levator Palpebrae Superioris — Eyelid Ptosis

The levator palpebrae superioris holds the upper eyelid open. It sits deep within the orbit, protected by the orbital septum — but toxin injected too close to the superior orbital rim, too deep, or in too large a volume can diffuse through and weaken it. The result is true ptosis: a drooping upper lid that persists for weeks to months, with no reliable fix beyond apraclonidine drops and time. Prevention is mechanical — keep glabellar and lower-forehead injections above the bony rim, use lower reconstitution volumes to limit spread, and don’t massage the area afterward. Our guide to ptosis after Botox covers management.

Zygomaticus Major — Smile Asymmetry

The zygomaticus major elevates the oral commissure — it is, functionally, the smile. Running from the zygomatic arch to the corner of the mouth, it sits directly in the diffusion path of crow’s feet injections placed too low and anterior, and of masseter injections placed too far forward. Weaken it unilaterally and the patient gets a visibly lopsided smile for the duration. Keep lateral canthal injections lateral to the orbital rim and above the zygomatic arch, and masseter injections posterior and deep.

Over-Treating Frontalis — Brow Heaviness

This one isn’t a misplacement — it’s a dosing error, and the most common complaint in aesthetic practice. Because frontalis is the only muscle that lifts the brow, fully paralyzing it removes the counterweight to the depressors: the brow settles onto the orbit, the lid looks hooded, and the patient feels heavy even though the forehead is smooth. Older patients and those with pre-existing brow descent are most vulnerable, because many are unconsciously recruiting frontalis just to keep their field of vision clear. Treat the glabellar depressors alongside the frontalis, spare the lateral frontalis, and stay well above the brow.

Structures and Planes to Avoid Entirely

• Blood vessels — intravascular injection risks systemic spread of the toxin and serious vascular complications, including clotting events.
• The eyelids and immediate periorbital area — the shortest path to ptosis.
• The dermis and epidermis — except where intradermal placement is the point (hyperhidrosis), a too-shallow angle strands the toxin where it can’t reach the neuromuscular junction. Never inject into bunched skin.
• Beneath or past the target muscle — diffusion into structures you didn’t intend to treat, and greater systemic risk.
• Non-muscular tissue near active sites — the vitreous body being the catastrophic example.
• The body of the lips — bruising, swelling, and functional impairment. Fillers are the right tool.
• The depressor labii inferioris — adjacent to the DAO; involvement causes lower-lip droop.
• Any muscle not in the treatment plan — proximity is not indication.

Finding the Right Injection Points for Each Patient

A Botox injection sites diagram is a teaching aid, not a prescription. Anatomy varies enough between patients — muscle mass, insertion points, brow position, asymmetry — that sample diagrams are never determinative. Sound mapping follows a sequence:

1. Confirm candidacy first. Mapping comes after the decision to treat, not before.
2. Assess in animation. Ask the patient to smile, frown, clench, raise the brows, squint, and scrunch the nose. Muscles reveal themselves in movement, not at rest.
3. Palpate. Find muscle borders and bony landmarks with gloved hands — especially the orbital rim and mandibular border.
4. Document baseline asymmetry. Photograph it. Nearly every face is asymmetric before treatment, and patients notice it afterward.
5. Mark the points in red or black ink before drawing up.
6. Use imaging where indicated. Ultrasound guidance suits deeper injections such as urinary incontinence work; cystoscopy is required for intradetrusor administration.

Who Isn’t a Candidate

Exclude or evaluate very carefully any patient presenting with:

• Neuromuscular conditions such as myasthenia gravis or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, where the toxin’s effect may be dangerously amplified
• Serious chronic conditions including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or congestive heart failure
• Known allergy or sensitivity to any Botox component, including albumin, sucrose, or lactose
• Marked facial asymmetry or pre-existing ptosis
• Any history of facial palsy
• Current or recent skin infection at or near the planned site
• Current pregnancy, planned pregnancy, or breastfeeding
• Unrealistic expectations, or goals Botox cannot deliver

Medication history matters equally. Anticoagulants such as warfarin, aminoglycoside antibiotics, and muscle relaxers can potentiate the toxin or complicate treatment; other agents may reduce potency or interfere with the toxin’s action at the muscle. Older patients warrant extra caution — there’s no age cutoff, but the likelihood of genuine contraindications rises with age.

After the Injection: Monitoring and Side Effects

Serious complications are rare, but every injector should recognize them and every patient should hear about them before treatment.

Common and self-limiting: injection-site pain, bruising, swelling, redness, or numbness; headache; temporary itching; flu-like symptoms.

Technique-dependent: eyelid or brow droop; crooked or lopsided smile; dry eye or excessive tearing; asymmetric results.

Rare but requiring immediate evaluation — these suggest spread of toxin effect beyond the injection site: difficulty swallowing, speaking, or breathing; generalized muscle weakness; vision changes; loss of bladder control.

Most effects declare themselves within hours. Monitor before discharge, instruct the patient to follow up with any concern, and advise against strenuous activity for at least 24 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can you get Botox on your face?

The forehead (frontalis), the glabella between the brows, around the eyes for crow’s feet and a brow lift, either side of the nose for bunny lines, the upper lip for a lip flip and perioral lines, the corners of the mouth for marionette lines, the chin for dimpling, and the masseter for jaw slimming and bruxism. Only glabellar lines, crow’s feet, and forehead lines carry cosmetic FDA approval; the rest are well-established off-label uses.

Where can you get Botox on your body?

The neck (platysmal bands, cervical dystonia), the neck and upper back including trapezius and splenius capitis (chronic migraine, muscle tension), the underarms and groin (hyperhidrosis), the palms and soles (hyperhidrosis), and the bladder wall via cystoscopy (overactive bladder and urinary incontinence). Botox is FDA-approved for more than a dozen conditions, and most of them aren’t cosmetic.

Where should you NOT inject Botox?

Never into blood vessels, the eyelids or immediate eye area, the body of the lips, the epidermis or bunched skin, beneath the target muscle, or into non-muscular tissue near an active site. Beyond those absolutes, avoid any muscle not in the treatment plan — the depressor labii inferioris next to the DAO and the zygomaticus major near the crow’s feet field are the classic accidental targets.

How many units of Botox per area?

It varies by muscle mass and indication. Common ranges: roughly 5 to 25 units for forehead lines, 5 to 15 units per side for crow’s feet, up to about 6 units for perioral smoker’s lines, around 25 units per side for the masseter in bruxism (30+ in some cases), and about 3 units per point for nasal tip work. Larger facial areas generally need 4 or more injection points and 15 units or more; small areas may need only 2 injections of a few units each. These are starting frameworks, not prescriptions — dose the patient in front of you.

What are the danger zones for Botox injection?

Three cause most visible complications. The levator palpebrae superioris, reached by diffusion from glabellar or low-forehead injections placed too near the orbital rim, causes eyelid ptosis. The zygomaticus major, reached from crow’s feet injections placed too low and anterior or masseter injections too far forward, causes smile asymmetry. And the frontalis — not misplaced but over-dosed — causes brow heaviness, because it’s the only brow elevator you have. The platysma is a fourth: inject too deep and you reach the muscles of swallowing.

How deep do you inject Botox?

Depth is dictated by the target. Most cosmetic facial injections are intradermal to subcutaneous or into a superficial muscle belly. Thin sheet muscles like the orbicularis oculi and platysma are treated superficially. Dense muscles like the corrugator and masseter are treated deep, into the belly. Hyperhidrosis is strictly intradermal, because the target is a sweat gland, not a muscle. Too shallow wastes the drug where it can’t work; too deep increases diffusion into unintended structures and systemic risk.

Who should perform Botox injections?

A licensed medical professional — physician, dentist, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or a registered nurse with additional aesthetic training, depending on state scope-of-practice law — who has completed comprehensive Botox training and is transparent about it. Never attempt DIY Botox. Confirm who is actually performing the procedure, distinguish cosmetic from therapeutic services (a great brow-lift injector may not treat hyperhidrosis), be wary of pricing that seems too good to be true, and ask about their experience with your specific procedure. Our guide on who can administer Botox covers the legal landscape.

Learn Botox Injection Anatomy Hands-On

Every complication described here — ptosis, crooked smiles, heavy brows, dysphagia — comes from the same root cause: toxin ending up in a muscle it wasn’t meant to reach. Injection site mapping, depth control, diffusion management, and dosing by muscle mass are learnable skills. They just aren’t learnable from a diagram.

Empire Medical Training has trained healthcare professionals in aesthetic medicine since 1998. Our Botox Training & Certification course is CME-accredited and hands-on, teaching facial anatomy and injection technique through live-patient treatment under expert supervision — because knowing where the levator palpebrae is on a chart and knowing where it is on the patient in your chair are two different things.

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