Paying for Botox by the Vial

Botox is a trademark of Allergan, Inc. The product is produced in vials of 100 units and requires reconstitution in normal saline prior to use.
Typically, less than 100 units is used on a single patient and thus the method of dispensing is through a multi-use vial.
Using 100 units along the lateral canthus is unusual, but can occur depending on your degree of dynamic rhytids.
Have a frank discussion with your surgeon and this will help clarify the situation and decrease your level of frustration.

The price of Botox operation depends on several factors such as the difficulty of your case and your request for your operation area.
In my practice, prices for Botox operation reaches from 325 Euro up to 350 Euro range. If you want to learn more you can visit my profile.

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.As far as a whole vial of Botox being used for the Crow's feet region.... this is too high a dose.

First of all, you did not have 3 cc or 6 cc of Botox - they would be way off the chart.  I assume you are meaning to say 3 units or 6 units were injected in your crow's feet, which is usually about 1/10 of a cc.  In my practice, we charge by the unit so that you know exactly how much Botox you received.   Good luck.

It sounds like your physician is trying to hide the number of actual Botox units used by selling it by the CC. This is a common practice to dupe consumers about the amount of Botox that is used.
While you may be able to request your medical records to determine how much Botox was used, it may not help you recover any fees you paid. Our suggestion would be to go to a practitioner that is fair and open with the amount of Botox UNITS that are being injected.

This sounds very strange to me. First of all, there is very little way that anyone could ever require an entire vial (100 units) of Botox to treat their crows feet, regardless of how severe those lines may be. More concerning to me is the refusal of documentation regarding your treatment. You should always have access to the amount of treatment you received and are completely entitled to know the number of units (regardless of how it was diluted into cc's) used.
In addition, you should not be forced to pay for the remainder of an unused vial of Botox (which it sounds like happened here). In my practice, we charge by units, as we feel it is the most accurate and fair way to determine reimbursement for a dosed or measured treatment (such as Botox). Other practices do charge by cc or by area, and although these methods are somewhat less accurate, they are by no means wrong and are in widespread use. Charges by the vial are more unusual as 100 units (a full vial) is a lot of Botox for one person at a time. One notable exception may be for the treatment of underarm sweating, which does require about 100 units for a complete treatment.
You may want to look for another doctor, one who respects you and your loyalty a bit more and one who will be up front with you regarding treatments administered to you. Make sure they are board certified in plastic surgery or dermatology and that they perform Botox injections regularly. Good luck!

This is a very unusual case.  I would definitely request to speak to the physician to ask for a clarification. The norm for most offices is to pay based on the amount used or the regions done.

The most accurate way of paying for Botox is by the unit. A common popular way to be charged for it is by the area. Both have their pros and cons. Botox by the vial or cc or syringe is not a fair way to measure and charge a patient. As other physicians here say, the fluid volume can vary greatly depending on the dilution your injector uses, and it will be very hard for you to know what is going on. Not fair, I say.

I do not charge botox by the cc's or units, I charge by the region being treated.  This may be as little as 12-15 units or more.

 

Thank you for the great question. Botox comes as a dry powder in a small vial. The doctor then chooses to add a certain amount of sterile saline into this vial to reconstitute the Botox. The amount of saline that added depends on the preferences of the doctor. This is why you should never pay for Botox by the milliliter or CC. It is not the saline then you are buying but how much Botox is in the saline. Before your next treatment, ask your physician how many units of Botox they plan to use. Clarify that you will be charged only for the units of Botox and not for the amount of saline that these units come in.

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