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Do Some Providers Water Down Botox? I Recently Received 60 Units to Remove the 11's and Can Still See Them.

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13 Doctor Answers | Asked by unowhat

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"Watered down" Botox

Botox must be diluted in order to get it to an injectable form. The manufacturer has specifications as to how this should be done. It is possible that some providers may not follow these guidelines. Sixty units of Botox seems excessive for the glabella area. However, if your wrinkles are so deep that they are present regardless of muscle activity, it may be that you need a combination of Botox and fillers to achieve the result you desire.

Mennen T. Gallas, MD

8 reviews

Houston Plastic Surgeon

Botox for 11s

Two possibilities: 1) The botox worked to paralyze the muscle, but you are seeing the creases in your skin. Lines that are present when the face is at rest will not go away with botox. Botox paralyzes muscle, but it does not fill erase the creases in the skin that have resulted from years of frowning. The paralysis will keep the creases from deepening. Over time and serial botox injections, lines that are present at rest will often soften quite a bit. For... more

Botox and units

All providers must "water down" the botox as it arrives as a powder and must be mixed with sterile saline. The amount of dilution correlates with the amount of liquid placed in the bottle. As the dilution (number of units of Botox per ml. of solution) varies from office to office, it is important that physicians discuss Botox treatment as number of units injected. In this way, it doesn't matter what dilution was used. If you had 60 units from one doctor who initially... more

Re: Do Some Providers Water Down Botox? I Recently Received 60 Units to Remove the 11's and Can Still See Them.

Sixty units of Botox to treat the glabella region (11's) sounds excessive if the product was dilluted properly. A more standard dose would be 20 units. It may be that the provider injected Dysport, which requires approximately 2.5 - 3 times the dose of Botox. It is also important to remember that you will not see the results of your Botox injection immediately. Botox typically begins to work 5-7 days following injection, with results being even better at two... more

Botox may not be enough to completely eliminate lines

Some patients need botox AND fillers to eradicate very deep stubborn lines. that said, 60 units of botox is an awful lot of that product, though 60 units of Dysport would be reasonable. there are dishonest people in every profession and it is certainly possible you were not given what you paid for. obviously you need to be able to trust the person performing your treatment. reputation, referrals, and good credentials e.g.proper board certification are ways to ensure you... more

Bruce K. Barach, MD

7 reviews

Schenectady Plastic Surgeon

drbarach.com

Watered down or are just plain dishonest about how much agent you are getting.

There are certain, lets say red flags out there. Areas vs syringes. If the office will not tell you how many units you are getting. This is done to keep you ignorant about the actual dose. However, knowing the alleged dose allows you to compare office when needed. These products are measured in units. BOTOX and Xeomin units are pretty comparable. On the other hand Dysport requires about 3 times the number of units for a clinically equivalent... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Botox and Dysport units to remove gabellar frown lines

Although, the amount a doctor dilutes/reconstitutes Botox or Dysport can vary, as long as the total number of units injected is consist, the result should also be consistent. For the gabellar frow lines, ( or 11's area) the number of units can vary depending upon the strength of the muscles. For Botox the number of units required usually ranges from 15 to 25 units, and for Dysport can range from 30 to 75 unit.

Frown lines

Doctors do dilute Botox differently. I tend to concentrate it more so that I do not use too much extra fluid which may cause the solution to migrate a bit. But I will say that 60 units sounds too much for the one area.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Botox dilution

All Botox is reconstituted by the injector. 60 units is an absurd dose for the 11s. I agree with other posters on the forum that you could have been treated with Dysport or that the dose was diluted (and I'll bet that, if the latter was the case, you were quoted a ridiculously low rate per unit). You should see a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist on consultation and obtain your medical records to insure that you are accurately reporting the dosage and the substance with... more

Water Downed Botox

Yes, some providers do water down their Botox with excess saline so that they can water down their prices. For the 11 wrinkles, weak muscle can respond to 15 units, and a strong muscles may need 35 units. The typical dose is 20-25 units. Maybe you were treated with Dysport. The dosing with Dysport is usually 2-2.5x more than Botox. So the average Dysport dose for the 11's would be 50 units.

There is no way you received 60 units for your 11's

60 units for 11's is completely inappropriate dose. There are 2 possibilities - either your are mistaken on the dosage or the specific toxin used (perhaps it was Dysport) or your doctor has no idea of what he/she is doing and should not be allowed to administer Botox. If your story is correct - that it was 60 units for jsut the 11's (corrugators) then you certainly did not have this done by a plastic surgeon or dermatologist and your "injector" should be reported to the... more

It is not about the dilution but the number of units

Botox comes dry, and we ALL dilute it with saline. Some use 1 cc, some 2, and some use 4 cc. What matters is not the dilution but how many units are put into specific muscles. You can get an adequate dosage using any dilution but the volume injected is adjusted to compensate for the strength of the solution injected. A good injector knows how many units to inject. Some muscles are bigger and stronger and need more units of Botox. If you could still frown then you need more units,... more

Dilution of Botox

Dilution of Botox varies, and yes, some places do "water down" the Botox for sure. That's how come you can see places offer treatments for such minimal pricing - it's not full strength Botox. You need to always be treated by a professional, and I'd always suggest a board-certified physician injector. 60 units of Botox to treat just the 11s is absurd. I would have used 20-25 units max. So, yes, most likely in this case your Botox wasn't injected at full strength.... more