Does the Amount of Dysport Affect How Long It Lasts?

Very good quesion, but it is not clear why your forehead was dosed if you wanted the frown lines (glabella area) dosed.  Lines that are horizontal are a result of forehead movement.  Lines that are vertical between the brows are a different muscle group than the forehead.  With that said, make certain that the practitioner understood your treatment goals.

In our experience and that of studies, dosing does have a direct correlation on duration.  Underdosing not only affects outcomes, it may also shorten duration of those outcomes.  Think of it as the treatment being able to get a good sprint but cannot finish the marathon. 

Above all else, dosing should be based primarily on each patient's treatment goals and appropriate need at the time of treatment.  With consistent treatments, one's needs should be less or duration extended.

 

The length of action of Botox and Dysport are not dependent on the dose.  The dose only affects the effect.  However the duration of effect will be the same regardless of dose.  So, the Dysport should last about as long as it did the first time you had it injected.

 

 

Dysport, like Botox Cosmetic, are both serotype A botulinum toxins, and both have a similar duration of action – typically 3-6 months with an average of about 4 months. Many patients who have been treated with both products say that the Dysport works a few days sooner then the Botox; but I have not seen any difference in the overall duration of action.

The recommended dose of Dysport for the treatment of glabellar frown lines is 50 units, the dose used in the FDA trials. This dose works well, but I have found that many patients have better results with 60 units. If 40 units works well for you there is no reason to change/increase the dose. And after a certain point, more toxin is not better, it’s just wasted.

The fact that you are happy with your results 8 months later is fantastic. Although, I would suggest that the Dysport has been completely metabolized and your continued results are related more to a modification of what muscles you are using for expression. Following treatment with a botulinum toxin, a few patients (subconsciously) modify their expression and use the treated muscles less.

Initially, some patients either don’t understand the difference or may be a bit vague in their description of what areas they want treated. If there is doubt I use a mirror to allow the patient to point to exactly what they are referring to. There is a definite anatomic difference between treating the ‘frown lines’ and the ‘forehead’, and what subsequently may happen to the eyebrow position. I, personally, like to achieve near complete inactivity of the glabellar muscles (frown lines), but I am lighter in my treatment of the frontalis muscle (forehead lines) because I don’t like to drop the eyebrow position (eyebrow ptosis). If your doctor used 75 units of Dysport to treat both your frown lines and transverse forehead lines, that might be an appropriate amount; but it sounds as if the distribution of its placement should have been different. If your doctor used 75 units of Dysport to treat just your forehead, I would consider that too large a dose for the majority of patients.

It appears the physician who treated you initially did a fine job, and perhaps you have already considered going back to him/her when you need treatment in the future. Best wishes