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Preparing Botox® Cosmetic

Do you know how much Botox® you have had injected for any given treatment? This is a question that I ask my new patients. Often they have no idea of how many units of Botox® they have been treated with for any given area in the past. I’d like to explain how Botox® is prepared and why patients should understand how many units they use.

Allergan is the maker of Botox®. The product is delivered by FedEx within 24 hours of ordering. It arrives in a styrofoam container that is packed with dry ice, and it must be placed in a freezer until it is ready to be used. The bottle that contains the Botox® has no liquid inside it but instead has a lipolyzed white ring of powder that is the Botox®. To make it injectable, I must mix a saline solution into the bottle. I use Bacteriostatic Saline which has a preservative of Benzyl Alcohol. Once mixed, the Botox® is ready to be injected and can be refrigerated until used.

Here at Willo MediSpa, the concentration of Botox® I prepare has 2.5 units in an injection volume of 0.1cc. The pattern I mark on my patients for their treatment is based on the spread and absorption of Botox® at that concentration and on the effect they want to achieve. Other injectors might use another concentration or another injection volume of Botox® in their practice. This is where I think a patient should know and understand the units of Botox® they receive in a treatment.

Knowing how many Botox® units are used in the different treatment areas is helpful for an injector and for a patient to get a consistently effective result. Some patients want a refreshed soft correction of dynamic wrinkles and others want a more frozen look. I keep a diagram of where Botox® is injected on a patient and how many units are used in each injection and in each area. This allows me to be able to make recommendations based on the pattern and the number of units used for a future treatment. If a patient feels not enough effect occurred, I can make recommendations to change the pattern and/or increase the number of units. If a patient feels the effect was too strong, I can adjust the pattern and decrease the number of units. A patient knowing the number of units of Botox® used for an effective treatment can relate this information to any injector who can reproduce the effect.

Another question a patient should ask is where the injector gets their Botox®. Believe it or not, even today in the Valley there are offices that do not purchase their products directly from the manufacturer. Allergan does not stand behind knock-off or imported products. An authentic bottle of Botox® has a hologram label. You should not feel timid about asking to see the bottle or about asking from where they purchase their Botox® to independently verify that you are receiving the real thing.

I hope this has helped you to understand how Botox® is prepared and used. Please feel free to contact me about any questions concerning Phoenix aesthetic treatments you may have.

Written By:
Dr. Nello Rossi – Willo MediSpa