Botox for Frown Lines - How Many Units Are Normal?

46 units sounds like the average for the area. Give it up to 2 weeks to see an improvement, then return to your injector if you don't see any improvement. Units is the measurement of the actual amount of Botox administered, before it is reconstituted.

Botox is an injectable used to lessen the movement of specific muscle of the face in an effort to target wrinkles created by the contraction of facial muscle groups.The dosing for Botox is variable and based on the desired effect, the amount of current animation, and the strength of the muscles. For new patients, however, the exact dosing is often discovered through a trial and error process. See link below. Some rough guidelines are:Forehead: 16 unitsCrowfeet (around eyes): 8 units per sideGlabella (between eyes): 18 unitsFor clarification, think of Botox Units as grains of salt dissolved in water. The same number of Units can be put in 1 syringe or many syringes and the same number of Units can be dissolved in 1 ml or 10 ml of water depending on the concentration.A detailed examination will help delineate your treatment options. Consultation with a surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery would be the next best step.

Thank you for your question. Your treatment recommendations may vary from one injector to another depending on their assessment and experience. You treatment appears to me to be within the normal range.

Botox units are just a measure of the Botox delivered.  Every person requires slightly different amounts.  The number of syringes is not an accurate measure since the Botox is diluted in saline to any volume necessary.  So there could be more Botox in one syringe of a doctor then 3 syringes from another doctor - depending on how much they dilute the Botox.  Most patients start out around 50 units for their first treatment.  The effects are then observed and the treatments are fine tuned on subsequent treatments.  46 units just for your forehead is a little high to start with, but if they would also treating the area between your eyebrows, your glabella, they it sounds like they got it just about right.  Hopefully you are happy with your results.  Good luck.

For frown lines between the brow, I use between 20 - 25 units depending on the facial anatomy. If you have lines on the forehead, it may take up to 40 units for both area. Our price is based on dollar per unit, so you know exactly what you are getting and paying for per unit.

To answer your question it depends on how strong your muscles are (Corrugator & procerus) when you frown. Men need more to this area then women. Allergan who makes Botox recommends 20 units to treat this area. I usually start the patient off with 25 units and have them come back in two weeks to see  if they need more. If you are talking about the forehead also than 46 units sounds like a appropriate amount.

Hi VJB,
If your frown lines are just the vertical lines at the bridge of the nose and between the eyes, then 46 units is probably too much. We usually use between 20-25 units in this area.
If your frown lines also include the horizontal forehead lines, then 46 units is a better number. We usually inject between 15-25 units in the forehead depending on the number and type of wrinkles. Just depends on how much of the "forehead" as you describe has been injected. Hope this helps.

Hi vjb,
46 Units of Botox in the forehead should take care of all of your frown lines.
Your beautiful and talented fellow country woman, Nicole Kidman, likely has less than that many units in her forehead. The number of units vary from individual to individual, usually somewhere between 24 to 40 units does the trick. Good day and enjoy the Vegemite!
Dr. P

For just the frown lines (the corrugator supercilii and procerus muscles), I usually start patients with 25 units. The occasional patient requires more depending on the prominence of the muscles.
"Units" are a standardized dose of Botox, where 1 unit was defined as the LD50 for intraperitoneal injections in mice. The LD50 is the "lethal dose, 50%" which means that 50% of the mice injected with 1 unit of Botox in the abdominal cavity were killed. [And before anyone gets nervous, the LD50 for humans is on the order of 3,000 units--more than a hundred times the dose used in the frown lines!]
In addition, you can't compare treatments by number of syringes or by volume (number of milliliters) since various practitioners reconstitute the Botox to different concentrations. Typical concentrations are 2.5 units/0.1ml, 4 units/0.1ml, and 5 units/0.1ml. I prefer to use 2.5 units/ml so that I can more evenly treat the muscles (10 injection points with smaller doses at each site...but then I also numb the patient first since it is more "shots").

Hello,Best to wait up to two weeks for results to kick in. If you don't see any changes / improvement, book in another appointment with your practitioner for a dose up.