Botox or Lymphatic Facial Sculpting?
The complete comparison: what each one actually acts on, what neither of them can do, and why the honest answer for most people is not one or the other.
- Comparison
- Botulinum toxin injection and lymphatic facial sculpting
- Category
- Treatment comparison · Decision education
- Primary purpose
- Work out which one addresses what is actually bothering you
- Botox acts on
- Nerve signal to muscle, reducing contraction
- Sculpting acts on
- Fluid movement and the tone of tissue, manually
- Not a substitute for
- Each other. They address different things
- Reading time
- About 14 minutes
- Written by
- Amanda Jeppesen
Almost every page comparing these two treatments is published by someone who sells one of them, and it shows. This guide is published by a studio that offers manual work and does not offer injectables, so the bias is worth naming at the top rather than hiding. What follows is written to be useful even if you read it and book Botox. It explains what each treatment acts on, what each one genuinely cannot do including ours, and how to work out which is relevant to you. It does not explain lymphatic facial sculpting from first principles, which the category guide does properly, and it is not a guide to jaw tension, which has its own page.
Botulinum toxin reduces the muscle contraction that creates movement lines, and lymphatic facial sculpting works manually with fluid and tissue tone. They act on different variables, so for most people the useful question is not which treatment but which variable.
Botox and lymphatic facial sculpting are not competing versions of the same thing. Botulinum toxin is a prescription medicine, injected by a qualified medical provider, that temporarily reduces the nerve signal telling a muscle to contract, which softens lines caused by repeated movement. Lymphatic facial sculpting is a hands-led treatment that supports fluid movement and works the tissue directly, which addresses heaviness, puffiness and a face that feels held. Neither one does the other's job, and neither one addresses volume loss, sun damage or bone. Many people use both, timed apart. If you cannot tell which applies to you, the honest first step is working out whether what bothers you is movement, fluid or something else entirely.
| What Botox is | A prescription neurotoxin, injected, medically administered |
|---|---|
| What it acts on | The nerve signal at the neuromuscular junction, reducing muscle contraction |
| Botox onset | Approximately two weeks to develop full effect |
| Botox duration | Three to five months in cosmetic practice |
| What sculpting is | A manual treatment, no needles, no medicine, no downtime reported by most clients |
| What it acts on | Fluid movement through the tissues and the tone of fascia and muscle |
| Sculpting onset | Commonly reported immediately after a session |
| Sculpting duration | Temporary, variable, and builds with consistency |
| Neither addresses | Volume loss, sun damage, skin quality or bone structure |
| Combined? | Commonly, with timing between them |
- They act on different variables. Botulinum toxin binds at cholinergic nerve terminals and reversibly inhibits the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, which reduces contraction.1 Manual work does not touch nerve signalling at all.
- Botox is not effective on static lines or on deep lines caused by photoaging.2 This is the most commonly misunderstood limit of the treatment, and it is worth knowing before you book.
- Its cosmetic approval covers three areas: glabellar lines, lateral canthal lines and forehead lines.1 Masseter, neck and lip treatments are widely offered and sit outside those approved indications.
- Effect takes approximately two weeks to develop and lasts three to five months in cosmetic practice.1 It is not immediate and it is not permanent.
- The two are evidenced differently, for structural reasons rather than because one works and the other does not. A prescription medicine cannot reach the market without regulatory trials. Manual therapy has no equivalent pathway and no equivalent funding, so the absence of large trials says more about how research is paid for than about what happens in the room.
- Neither treatment addresses volume loss, skin quality, sun damage or bone. If that is what is bothering you, both of these are the wrong conversation.
- They are frequently combined. Sous La Face asks clients to allow two weeks after neuromodulator injections and four weeks after fillers before manual treatment.
You have a budget for one thing and you are trying to work out which. Or you already have Botox and want to know whether manual work is redundant, or unsafe, or worth adding. Or you are wary of injectables and hoping something manual will do the same job, and you would rather be told honestly than sold to. Or your face looks tired and heavier than it used to, and you have no idea whether that is muscle, fluid, age, or simply a bad month of sleep. This guide is written for all four, including the reader who finishes it and books an injector.
The Difference That Actually Matters
The two treatments are not strong and weak versions of one another. They intervene at completely different points. Botulinum toxin acts on the signal that tells a muscle to contract, so it addresses lines produced by movement. Manual sculpting acts on fluid sitting in tissue and on the tone of that tissue, so it addresses heaviness and lost definition. A face bothered by one will not be helped much by the treatment aimed at the other.
This is why the usual framing of the question produces such unsatisfying answers. Asking which treatment is better is like asking whether a dehumidifier is better than a light switch. The useful question is what is actually making your face look the way it does, and there are three broad answers rather than two. Something is moving, something is sitting, or something has changed in the underlying tissue and structure. The diagram below sets those out as separate lanes, because almost every disappointing cosmetic outcome traces back to a treatment bought for the wrong lane.
How Botox Works
Botulinum toxin is a prescription neurotoxin. Injected into a specific muscle, it binds to receptors on cholinergic nerve terminals and cleaves one of the SNARE proteins, which reversibly inhibits the release of acetylcholine and transiently restrains neurotransmitter release at the neuromuscular junction.1 In plain terms: the nerve stops telling that muscle to contract as strongly, so it moves less, so the line it was creating softens.
It is worth being precise about what that produces, because the mechanism explains both the strength and the limit. Lines form when repeated contraction of the muscle under the skin causes thinning of the dermis above it and pleating of the skin.2 Reduce the contraction and you interrupt the process that creates and deepens the line. The cosmetic indications approved for it are the moderate to severe glabellar lines associated with corrugator and procerus activity, lateral canthal lines associated with orbicularis oculi, and forehead lines associated with frontalis activity.1 Those three areas share one feature: they are all lines produced by muscles you can consciously move.
That approval list is narrower than the market. Masseter injection for a squarer jaw, neck bands, brow positioning and lip treatments are all widely offered and all sit outside those indications. Off-label use of an approved medicine is normal and legal medical practice, and it is not a scandal. It is worth knowing about, though, because it means the depth of published evidence behind the treatment you are being offered may be considerably thinner than the depth behind the three areas most people picture when they hear the word.
How Lymphatic Sculpting Works
Lymphatic facial sculpting is a predominantly manual treatment combining lymphatic drainage, fascia work and sculpting, often including intraoral buccal massage, and at Sous La Face finishing with an electrical muscle stimulation device. It acts on fluid and on the tone of the tissue, not on nerve signalling, which is the distinction that matters against a neuromodulator. A device that stimulates a muscle to contract and a medicine that stops a muscle contracting are opposite instructions, not competing versions of the same one. The lymphatic system has no central pump, so flow depends on movement, breathing and external stimulus,3 which is the physiological reason manual work has any role at all.
What that produces is different in kind from what an injection produces. Clients commonly report a face that looks less heavy, more rested and more defined, along with a sense of release through the jaw. Those are commonly observed and temporary outcomes rather than promises, and they arrive immediately rather than over a fortnight. The category guide explains the full sequence and the reasoning behind it, so this page will not repeat it.
The honest framing is this. Manual work changes the state of the face rather than its mechanics. It moves what is sitting and softens what is held. It leaves the nerve, the muscle's capacity to contract, and the structure entirely as they were, which is precisely why it wears off and precisely why it can be repeated indefinitely without accumulating.
What Neither One Can Do
Both treatments have a hard boundary at structure. Neither replaces lost volume, neither reverses sun damage, neither changes bone, and neither improves skin quality in the way a resurfacing or a well-built skincare routine can. Botulinum toxin injections are not effective in treating static rhytids or deep rhytids caused by photoaging.2 Manual work has no mechanism for any of it either.
This matters more than any difference between the two, because it is where most disappointment comes from. Someone who dislikes a line that is visible while their face is completely still is looking at a static line, and softening the muscle beneath it will do less than the marketing photographs suggest. Someone unhappy about hollowing under the cheekbone is describing volume, which is a filler or a surgical conversation and not a manual one. A guide that tells you what the treatment is for is only half useful. The half that saves you money is the half that tells you when to keep it in your pocket.
Each treatment also has a limit the other does not share. Botox cannot move fluid, so a face that is heavy on waking and settles by midday will not be improved by it. Manual work cannot reduce muscle contraction, so a deep frown line that appears every time you concentrate will not be resolved by it. Anyone claiming otherwise about either treatment is describing a mechanism that does not exist.
Onset, Duration and Upkeep
The rhythms are almost opposite. Botulinum toxin takes approximately two weeks to develop its full effect and lasts three to five months in cosmetic practice.1 Manual sculpting is commonly reported as visible immediately, and it fades over days rather than months. One is slow to arrive and slow to leave; the other is instant and brief.
That difference should shape how you plan, not which you rate more highly. If you are preparing for a specific date, ask your injector how far ahead they want you treated, because that judgement is theirs, and these are the questions to ask them. Manual work is separately useful in the days immediately before, and we ask for two weeks after neuromodulators and four after fillers so the two do not collide. If you want something steady in the background, injectables give you a long plateau with a defined end, and manual work gives you a shorter effect that clients consistently report holds better with repetition. Neither of those is a superior model. They are different purchases.
One caution on frequency, applying to both. There is no honest universal schedule for either treatment, and any provider who quotes you a fixed number of sessions before meeting you is selling a package rather than answering a clinical question. Cadence depends on your face, your habits and what you are trying to influence.
What the Evidence Supports
The two treatments are evidenced in different ways, and the difference is structural rather than a verdict on either. Botulinum toxin is a prescription medicine, so it could not reach the market at all without regulatory trials demonstrating a specific effect in a specific indication. Manual therapy has no equivalent approval pathway and no comparable research funding behind it, which is why the published literature looks so different. The shape of a research base often reflects who pays for research.
What can be said accurately about each is therefore different in kind. For botulinum toxin, there is approval and trial data supporting a defined effect on lines caused by muscle movement.1 For lymphatic work, the anatomy is established, the mechanism is not in dispute, and the immediate visible effect is consistently reported by clients and consistently observed in practice. Neither of those statements is weak. They are answers to different questions.
One boundary is worth drawing plainly, because a great many pages in this category cross it. The clinical trial literature on manual lymphatic drainage sits mostly in lymphoedema and post-surgical care, which are populations with impaired drainage or recent tissue trauma. Those findings support clinical practice in those settings and they are not evidence for a cosmetic result on a healthy face. Borrowing them to make our case would be the exact error this library refuses everywhere else, so we do not borrow them. Declining to overstate a case is not the same as having no case.
What this should change is the question you ask, not the treatment you respect. If what bothers you is a line produced by muscle movement, the treatment designed and approved for that is the injectable, and no amount of manual work will do the same job. If what bothers you is heaviness, puffiness or a face that feels held, manual work addresses that directly, immediately and reversibly, and no injection does that job either. Both statements are firm. Neither is a concession.
| Botulinum toxin | Lymphatic facial sculpting | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A prescription medicine, injected | A manual treatment, hands and a stimulation device |
| Acts on | Nerve signal at the neuromuscular junction | Fluid movement and tissue tone |
| Best suited to | Lines produced by repeated movement | Heaviness, puffiness, a face that feels held |
| Onset | Approximately two weeks | Commonly reported immediately |
| Duration | Three to five months in cosmetic practice | Temporary and variable; builds with consistency |
| Administered by | A qualified medical provider | A trained practitioner, working by hand and with a stimulation device |
| Reversible on demand | No. It wears off on its own schedule | Not applicable. Nothing is introduced into the skin, and the effect fades on its own |
| Evidence base | Regulatory approval and trial data, required before a medicine can be sold | Established anatomy and mechanism, plus consistent clinical observation. No approval pathway exists for manual therapy |
| Cannot address | Fluid, static lines, photoaging, volume, bone | Muscle contraction, static lines, photoaging, volume, bone |
| Typical downside | Injection-site effects, and ptosis where technique or dosing is off | Effect is short-lived without repetition |
Cost, Commitment and Reversibility
The financial shapes differ as much as the clinical ones. Injectables are a larger single outlay perhaps three times a year, with a long gap in between. Manual work is a smaller outlay more often. Over twelve months the totals can land closer together than people expect, so cost is a weaker deciding factor than it first appears and is not a good reason to pick the treatment aimed at the wrong lane.
Commitment is the more useful axis. Once botulinum toxin is injected it cannot be taken back; the effect resolves on its own schedule as the nerve terminals recover, which takes months. Manual work introduces nothing, so stopping is simply stopping and the face returns to its baseline. For someone nervous about a first cosmetic decision, that asymmetry matters, and it is a legitimate reason to begin with the manual option even where an injectable might address the specific complaint more directly. Beginning somewhere reversible is a reasonable way to make a decision you have never made before.
Can You Have Both?
Yes, and a large number of people do. The two act on different variables, so combining them is additive rather than contradictory. What matters is spacing, because manual pressure on a face that has recently been injected is the one genuine interaction between them, and it is a timing question rather than a safety alarm.
Sous La Face asks clients to allow two weeks after neuromodulator injections such as Botox, and four weeks after fillers, before a manual treatment. The reasoning is straightforward. Injected product needs time to settle where the injector placed it, and pressure applied too soon is an avoidable variable in someone else's clinical work. Tell your practitioner what you have had done and when, every time, including if the answer is last week. It changes what we do, and a practitioner who does not ask is not paying attention.
Order tends to follow the same logic. Where people are doing both, having manual work first and injectables afterwards means the injector is assessing a face that is not carrying a load of fluid, which is a more honest baseline to dose against. That is a practical observation from practice rather than a published protocol, and your injector's preference should take precedence over ours.
Safety and Who Administers What
These treatments carry different risk profiles because one is a medicine and the other is not. Botulinum toxin should be administered only by a qualified medical provider. Common adverse effects include bruising, swelling or pain at the injection site and flu-like symptoms, while eyelid and eyebrow ptosis are recognised complications that depend on the injector.1 That last detail is the most useful thing on this page for anyone choosing an injector: the published complication rate is partly a statement about who is holding the syringe.
Contraindications for injectable treatment include neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, multiple sclerosis and ALS, allergy to the product's constituents, active infection at the injection site, and pregnancy and breastfeeding.2 These are decisions for a medical provider, not for a studio, and not for a comparison page.
Manual work has a different and generally lower risk profile, which is not the same as no risk and should not be sold as though it were. Treatment should be postponed for active skin infection, acute inflammation, recent facial or dental surgery, or any undiagnosed swelling or pain. Anyone with a lymphatic disorder, in active cancer treatment, managing thyroid or kidney conditions, or who is pregnant should speak with their healthcare provider before booking. Sudden, painful, one-sided or persistent facial swelling is a medical matter and needs assessment rather than a booking of any kind.
| Statement | Classification |
|---|---|
| Botulinum toxin reversibly inhibits acetylcholine release at the neuromuscular junction | Established pharmacology, cited |
| Effect develops over approximately two weeks and lasts three to five months cosmetically | Established, cited |
| It is not effective on static or photoaging-related lines | Established, cited |
| The lymphatic system has no central pump and depends on movement and external stimulus | Established physiology, cited |
| Manual work moves fluid through the tissues | Established physiology applied to a cosmetic setting |
| Clients report an immediate, visible, temporary change after manual treatment | Professional observation |
| Manual results build with consistency rather than intensity | Brand philosophy and professional observation |
| Manual work first, injectables after, gives a cleaner baseline | Professional observation, not a published protocol |
| Lymphoedema trial findings support a cosmetic result on a healthy face | Not supported. Different population, different question. This guide does not borrow them |
| Manual work is a natural alternative achieving the same result as Botox | Not supported. Different mechanism, different result |
| Either treatment changes bone, replaces volume or reverses sun damage | Not supported for either |
Where This Sits at Sous La Face
Sous La Face offers manual treatment and does not offer injectables, which is exactly why this page is written the way it is. The RRR™ Method is lymphatic-first: Reroute supports the drainage pathways, Release addresses tension held in the tissue, and Resculpt finishes with sculpting work and a stimulation device. None of those phases acts on nerve signalling, and none of them is offered as a substitute for something that does.
What that means in practice is that a proportion of the people who ask us this question are told the other answer. Someone whose main concern is a deep frown line at rest is not going to get what they want from us, and saying so costs one booking and keeps the reason they trusted us intact. The clients who do well here are the ones in the second lane, and there are far more of them than the injectable-versus-nothing framing suggests.
"I get asked this constantly, and my answer has cost me bookings. If someone comes to me with a deep line between their brows that is there when their face is completely still, I am not the right person, and I will say so in the first five minutes. That is not modesty, it is accuracy. What I do is different work on a different problem, and on that problem I am very confident. I watch faces change under my hands every day. A medicine has to be trialled before it can be sold, and manual work has never had that kind of money behind it, so the paperwork looks different. That is a fact about research funding, not about what happens in my treatment room. I will not overstate what I do, and I will not undersell it either."
This section reflects Amanda Jeppesen's professional perspective and the Sous La Face treatment philosophy. It should not be interpreted as universal scientific consensus or medical advice.
"It is Botox or nothing."
Why this exists
Injectables dominate the cosmetic conversation so completely that they have become the default reference point for any concern about how a face looks.
The accurate picture
They are approved for lines caused by muscle movement in three specific areas. A great deal of what bothers people about their faces is fluid, tension, skin quality or volume, none of which is what that treatment is designed for. Working out which lane you are in comes before choosing anything.
"Lymphatic sculpting is a natural alternative to Botox."
Why this exists
It is a convenient way to sell manual work to people who are nervous about needles, and studios like ours have every commercial incentive to let the framing stand.
The accurate picture
An alternative achieves the same end by different means, and this does not. Manual work has no effect on nerve signalling and will not soften a movement line the way an injection does. It addresses fluid and tissue tone, which is a different result. Calling it an alternative sets up a disappointment we would rather avoid.
"Botox will get rid of all my wrinkles."
Why this exists
Marketing rarely distinguishes between lines that appear on movement and lines that are present at rest, and to a reader they are all simply wrinkles.
The accurate picture
Botulinum toxin injections are not effective in treating static rhytids or deep rhytids caused by photoaging. It interrupts the repeated contraction that creates and deepens movement lines. Lines already established in the skin, and changes caused by sun exposure, are a different problem needing different approaches.
"If you have injectables you cannot have facial treatments."
Why this exists
Practitioners advise waiting periods, and a waiting period is easily heard as a prohibition rather than a schedule.
The accurate picture
The two are frequently combined. What is required is spacing, so that injected product settles where it was placed before manual pressure is applied over it. Sous La Face asks for two weeks after neuromodulators and four weeks after fillers. Tell your practitioner the dates every time.
"Manual work is natural, so it must be the safer choice."
Why this exists
Absence of needles reads as absence of risk, and the wellness industry has spent decades encouraging that association.
The accurate picture
The risk profile is genuinely different and generally lower, and it is not zero. Manual treatment is inappropriate over an active infection, on recently operated tissue, or where swelling has not been assessed. Natural is a description of technique, not a safety claim, and it does not make a treatment right for a problem it does not address.
"Whichever one has better before-and-after photographs must work better."
Why this exists
Photographs are the currency of this industry, and they are the easiest thing in it to influence.
The accurate picture
Immediate manual results photograph extremely well and last days. Injectable results photograph at two weeks and last months. The same image can represent a very different purchase, and neither picture tells you which lane your own face is in. That is the only question worth answering first.
What We Do and What We Do Not
We deliver the RRR™ Method: Reroute, Release, Resculpt, in that order. The first two stages are entirely manual. The third adds an electrical muscle stimulation device to the sculpting work, the thing most people call microcurrent, though it is not strictly microcurrent and carries its own screening questions. We do not offer injectables, we do not take a commission from anyone who does, and we have no position on whether you should have them beyond wanting you to buy the thing that addresses your actual complaint.
The RRR™ Face is available at our Yorkville studio in Toronto and our West Hollywood studio in Los Angeles. If you have read this far and think you are in the second lane, book your first visit and tell us what you noticed. If you think you are in the first or third, we would rather you spent your money with the right person, and we will say so if you ask us.
- We talk first: what you have noticed, when it is worst, what you have had done and when. There is no separate consultation to book, it is part of the appointment.
- We work out together whether what is bothering you is fluid, tension, or something that belongs with a different provider. If it is the third, we will tell you.
- The treatment itself, in the RRR™ order: Reroute, then Release, then Resculpt. Pressure is adjusted throughout and you can ask for anything to be explained or changed.
- Aftercare, and an honest conversation about rhythm and about whether this is worth repeating for you. No pressure to commit on the day.
Bring your injectable dates if you have them, including recent ones. It changes what we do rather than ruling anything out. The RRR™ Face is sixty minutes and $259. The same in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Ready when you are. Book Toronto · Book Los Angeles
What is the difference between Botox and lymphatic facial sculpting?
They act on different things. Botulinum toxin is an injected prescription medicine that reduces the nerve signal telling a muscle to contract, which softens lines caused by movement. Lymphatic facial sculpting is a hands-led treatment that supports fluid movement and works the tissue directly, which addresses heaviness and lost definition.
Which one is better?
Neither, because they do different jobs. The useful question is what is causing what bothers you. A line that appears when you move is what injectables are approved for. Heaviness, puffiness or a face that feels held is what manual work addresses. Change that is visible at complete rest is usually neither.
Can lymphatic sculpting replace Botox?
No. It has no effect on nerve signalling and will not soften a movement line the way an injection does. Describing it as an alternative sets up a disappointment. It is a different treatment producing a different result, and it is worth having for what it actually does.
Can I have both?
Yes, and many people do. Because they act on different variables, combining them is additive rather than contradictory. What matters is spacing, so that injected product settles before manual pressure is applied over the area.
How long should I wait after Botox before a facial treatment?
Sous La Face asks clients to allow two weeks after neuromodulator injections such as Botox and four weeks after fillers. Always tell your practitioner what you have had done and when, including if it was recent, because it changes what we do.
How long does Botox take to work?
Approximately two weeks to develop its full effect in cosmetic practice. That is worth planning around, particularly before an event, and it is very different from manual work, which clients commonly report as visible immediately.
How long does Botox last?
Three to five months in cosmetic practice. Uses on autonomic neurons, such as for hyperhidrosis or overactive bladder, have a considerably longer effect of six to nine months, but that is a different application from cosmetic treatment of facial lines.
Does Botox work on all wrinkles?
No. It is not effective on static lines or on deep lines caused by photoaging. It works by interrupting the repeated muscle contraction that creates and deepens movement lines. Lines already established in the skin need a different approach.
Which areas is cosmetic Botox actually approved for?
Moderate to severe glabellar lines associated with corrugator and procerus activity, lateral canthal lines associated with orbicularis oculi, and forehead lines associated with frontalis activity. Masseter, neck and lip treatments are widely offered and sit outside those approved indications.
Is lymphatic sculpting safer than Botox?
The risk profile is different and generally lower, which is not the same as no risk. Manual treatment is inappropriate over active infection, on recently operated tissue, or where swelling has not been assessed. Injectables carry their own recognised effects and should only be administered by a qualified medical provider.
Is there good evidence that lymphatic facial sculpting works?
The anatomy is established, the mechanism is not in dispute, and the immediate visible effect is consistently reported and observed. What does not exist is a body of large controlled trials, because manual therapy has no approval pathway requiring them and no comparable research funding. That is a fact about how research is paid for rather than a finding against the treatment.
Which is cheaper over a year?
Closer than most people expect. Injectables are a larger outlay perhaps three times a year; manual work is a smaller outlay more often. Cost is a weaker deciding factor than it appears, and it is a poor reason to buy the treatment aimed at the wrong problem.
If I start Botox, can I stop?
Yes. The effect resolves on its own schedule over months as nerve terminals recover; it cannot be reversed on demand. Manual work introduces nothing, so stopping is simply stopping. That asymmetry is a legitimate reason to begin with the reversible option if you are unsure.
Should I have manual work before or after injectables?
Where people do both, having manual work first means the injector is assessing a face not carrying a load of fluid, which is a more honest baseline. That is a practical observation from practice rather than a published protocol, and your injector's preference takes precedence.
These two treatments are not rivals, and the question almost everyone asks about them has the wrong shape. Botulinum toxin acts on the nerve signal that drives muscle contraction, which is why it addresses lines produced by movement and why it takes a fortnight to arrive and months to fade. Lymphatic facial sculpting acts on fluid and tissue tone, which is why it addresses heaviness and lost definition and why it is immediate and brief. Neither reaches volume, sun damage or bone. They are evidenced differently because one is a medicine that requires approval and the other is manual work that has never had that kind of funding behind it, which is a fact about research rather than a ranking of the two. What decides this is not which treatment is better but which lane your face is actually in, and that is a question worth answering before you spend anything at all.
- 1. Padda IS, Tadi P. Botulinum Toxin. StatPearls Publishing; updated 2023. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557387
- 2. Biello A, Zhu B. Botulinum Toxin Treatment of the Upper Face. StatPearls Publishing; updated 2023. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK574523
- 3. Ozdowski L, Gupta V. Physiology, Lymphatic System. StatPearls Publishing; updated 2023. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557833
Written and professionally reviewed by Amanda Jeppesen
Founder of Sous La Face · Creator of the RRR™ Method
Amanda Jeppesen founded Sous La Face in Toronto in 2019 and opened the doors to North America's first studio dedicated exclusively to lymphatic facial sculpting in 2020. She created the RRR™ Method, Reroute, Release and Resculpt, and leads studios in Yorkville, Toronto and West Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Published · Last reviewed · Next review February 2027
This guide is educational and compares two treatments. Sous La Face offers manual treatment and does not offer injectables. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice, and decisions about prescription medicines including botulinum toxin belong with a qualified medical provider who has assessed you. Individual experiences vary. If you have sudden, painful, one-sided or persistent facial swelling, seek medical assessment rather than booking any cosmetic treatment.