Botox Cost - CC's Vs. Units?

Di,
You are correct, people sell Botox by cc, which is a measure of volume, or by unit, which is a measure of total Botox. Additionally, they may sell it by areas, which tells you nothing about the volume or the total Botox. It is best to always know how many units you are receiving. This way, the next time you have a Botox treatment, you will know if you need more or less in specific areas. Most careful injectors keep tract of how many units they inject in each area and mark this in their chart. If they are unable to tell you how many units they are injecting, then they probably do not know what they are doing.
I hope this is helpful.

Botox should be priced by unit, because the unit determines the level of efficacy. Whether I dilute 10 units in 0.1 cc or 1 cc, it still only has 10 units of effectiveness, albeit spread over a different volume.

A "unit" delivers a certain amount of relaxation.  A unit can be delivered in 0.01 cc or 0.025 cc or even 0.05 cc, depending on how Botox is reconstituted. 

Thank you for your question. Botox is not normally sold by the cc.
This is more common for fillers. Some injectors sell Botox by the
syringe, but this becomes a very difficult way to compare with units as
the injector may reconstitute their Botox differently. I train other
injectors on the safe and effective use of Botox (and other
injectables). I find that core aesthetic physicians (e.g. plastic
surgeons and dermatologists) have a deeper understanding of anatomy and
the physiology of facial aging and thus I spend less more time focusing
my teachings on assessment and the underlying anatomy. For non-core
(e.g nurses, family practice physicians, OB/Gyn), this is not something
they get a lot of training in during their medical training. Most of
Botox complications that reported is usually due to technique and
inadequate assessment. I would strongly recommend that you stick with a
board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist who does a high volume
of injectables as part of their practice. You may pay more, but
knowledge and experience is vitally important to having a safe and
effective result.

It is more common to advertise Botox per unit, rather than by cc's. It can be measured by cc's, but the amount depends on how much solution is added to reconstitute the Botox.In Toronto, Botox ranges from $12-$15/unit.

Units are basically the exact amount of Botox administered, before it is reconstituted. Botox can be reconstituted at different concentrations, therefore CCs is not as accurate.

Botox is supplied by the manufacturer as a dry powder in a vial, then the doctor adds saline fluid to turn it into a liquid prior to doing the injection.  The concentration of the Botox in the vial will vary depending on how much fluid is added.  However, the total number of units in the vial will stay the same.  If you ask your doctor how many units are being injected rather than just the volume of fluid, you will know how much Botox was actually injected.

The charge
structure for botox injections can be extremely confusing. Although most
practitioners charge for the total number of botox units administered, some
charge by the syringe or by the number of areas treated. This can make
comparing the price of botox injections difficult.

In most cases,
comparisons can be made by translating syringe areas into units. For example
how many units per syringe is an appropriate question to ask. When these
comparisons are made the price is usually between $10 and
$16 per unit.

The cost of botox,
not only reflects the product cost, but the skill and experience of the
injector as well. For this reason it's important to be careful when the pricing
seems too good to be true.

I personally think the only way a doctor should charge for Botox is by the unit. The only way to legally purchase Botox in the United States is per unit. Meaning, most doctors purchase a 100 unit bottle of Botox from Allergan - the only make and distributor of Botox in the U.S. The bottle requires 'reconstitution' in order to be used properly. This means that the doctor has to add saline (salt water) into the bottle in order to create a solution of Botox that can then be injected.

If you add, for instance, 4 cc (milliliters) of saline into the bottle, you then get a solution that has 25 units per cc. If you add 10 cc of saline into the bottle, you get a solution that is 10 units per cc. 

Most doctors use a 1 cc syringe to inject Botox. Unfortunately, one syringe in one office is not equivalent to one syringe in another office. Using our examples note above, one syringe in the first office would be equivalent to 25 units of Botox. In the second office, this would be equivalent to only 10 units of Botox. So changing the dilution of Botox can significantly effect the amount of Botox that is actually being given in one syringe.

The only measurement that really matters when it comes to controlling unwanted muscle movement is how many units were used. This is also the only consistent factor between offices. So from a patient's perspective, you should only be concerned about how many units are being used in your particular situation. In the San Diego area, Botox can range in price from $8.00 - $17.50 per unit. There shouldn't be any difference in the effectiveness of one unit of Botox from one office to another.

Charging patients by the unit of Botox used is a much more transparent method than charging them by the number of syringes used or areas treated. This is the only way for patients to reliably compare apples to apples when it comes to Botox use.

If a physician is selling you CC's of Botox he/she is almost certainly trying to deceive you. There are two common ways to offer Botox in today's market, one is by the unit and the other is by the area.
Measuring in CC's is deceiving because a CC of diluted Botox does not tell you how much actual Botox is in the dilution, rather it tells you more about how much saline was used.
Purchasing Botox in anything other then the "unit" cost will usually lead to paying more for the product. If you know how many units are being injected, you can easily judge how it compares to another practice. Understand though that this pricing information has nothing to do with the amount of skill necessary to create good outcomes and you should always seek out experienced, well trained Botox injectors.