The Night I Accidentally Botoxed My External Jugular

Ashley Chaffee
Dec 10, 2025
2 min read

I Hit a Vein. With Botox. Here’s the Story.

(A Nefertiti lift gone… educational)

Let me paint the scene for you.

It was one of those nights where the vibe was immaculate — good lighting, skin prepped, jawline snatched in my mind before the injections even happened. I had my Botox drawn up, my gloves on, and that quiet confidence you get right before doing something mildly reckless but scientifically justified.

Enter: The Nefertiti Lift. A beautiful, sculpting, contouring little trick for the jawline and platysma bands. Easy. Clean. Elegant.

Until it wasn’t.

I was working my way along the jawline, doing those little micro-injections that make you feel like a celebrity injector in a rented med-spa you technically don’t own, but spiritually, you do.

Everything was perfect. My angles? Chef’s kiss. My technique? On point. My mood? Flawless.

Then I placed the needle for the next injection point and—without warning…I nicked the external jugular.

The External Jugular Vein, Nefertiti Botox.

No warning. No dramatic music to alert me. Just a sudden warm bloom under the skin and the immediate, unmistakable realization that I had gotten a little too cozy with vascular anatomy.

My brain: Oh…that’s gonna bruise. My soul: Am I dying? My neck: PULSES LOUDLY IN HD.

I applied pressure like I was stopping a major trauma bleed (even though it was very much a “this is fine, you’re fine” situation), stared at myself in the mirror like I had just discovered a new personality trait, and thought:

"I'm dying"

What actually happened (aka the science part)

The external jugular is a large, superficial vein that sits right where we work for the Nefertiti lift — along the lower face, angle of the jaw, and down the neck.

When you’re injecting near the platysma:

The vein can be close to the surface
Slight angle changes can put the needle just close enough
And sometimes, you simply tag it. That’s it. It’s a bruise, not a catastrophe.

But what about injecting Botox into a vein?

Good news: EVEN IF a tiny amount got into a vein, Botox doesn’t cause systemic effects that way. It’s too diluted, too small, and rapidly inactivated in circulation. The “danger” is bleeding, bruising, and your ego taking a hit.

What I learned (so you don’t panic like I did)

The platysma area is trickier than people think.
Neck veins do NOT care about your aesthetic goals.
Aspirating is helpful, but even without it, a vein nick is not the end of the world.
Immediate pressure fixes 99% of problems.
Prevention > panic.

Should you stop injecting yourself?

Absolutely not. We just respect the anatomy more now.

The moral of the story

I lived. My neck lived. My contour still contoured. And now I have a very dramatic, very educational Nefertiti-lift-gone-wrong story to share — along with a really good bruise photo if I ever want people to think I got into a fight with a vampire.