Botox: Price per unit, not cc, vial or area

Michael Law, MD answers: Botox cost - CC's vs. units?

How common is it for doctors to sell Botox in cc's instead of units?  How much does Botox cost per cc of Botox vs. per unit of Botox?


Michael Law, MD
10 months ago

Physicians reconstitute Botox with different amounts of saline solution, which means that the number of units of Botox you receive per cc of the solution that is injected may vary from practice to practice. For this reason it is important for consumers to understand how many units of Botox are being injected into a given treatment area, and to select a physician who prices Botox by the unit.

It makes no sense to price Botox "per area". Pricing "per area" means one of two things - either (1) a physician is injecting the same number of units of Botox into a given treatment area in every patient, say the forehead, whether the patient is a young woman with few lines and wrinkles or a mature gentleman with a large forehead and significant wrinkles; or 2) the doctor injects a varying number of units into the treatment area depending on the needs of patient, but charges everyone the same amount for that area. In this latter scenario, the gentleman with deep lines on the forehead might be getting more Botox and a much better deal than the young woman with early signs of aging.

Botox can make a big difference for most people, but getting the best results depends upon finding an experienced injector who uses freshly reconstituted Botox, and who varies the amount of Botox that is administered according to each patient's individual needs.

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