A syringe full of active botox or saline solution?

Did you know that every physician, spa or clinic offering botox injections buys their botox in the same form and at the same price from the only manufacturer - Allergan?

There are no deals done for bulk supply - no special discounts for important customers. Everyone buys at the same price.

So how come there is such a range in the price of botox injections?

Easy you say - competition. Some suppliers just offer better deals to the customer to attract business. So we get top quality botox at lower prices - which benefits everyone - right?

Well wrong actually. Even if you go to a qualified dermatologist or plastic surgeon for your botox injections - you may not get what you think you’re paying for.

Here are the facts. Clostridium botulinum toxin type A is purchased in a manufacturers’ vial containing 100 units of vacuum-dried neurotoxin complex. Whoever is doing your botox injections has to add saline to the dried complex to get it in a liquid form for injecting.

Now you might assume there is a standard ratio of saline solution to dried botox complex.

Well…..yes - technically there is. The manufacturere lays down a standard for ‘reconstituting’ or diluting the botox in its dried form. This is given as a recommended standard ratio of saline to dried botulism toxin.

But here’s the tricky bit. Your physician can go with the recommended level or they can decide to add more saline - and more saline means a weaker botox injection as far as you are concerned.

So when you see bargain prices for botox you need to be extremely cautious. You may think you have a good deal because of the volume of botox solution in the syringe. It may seem like a very good ‘dose’ of botox for your money. But what you’re paying for may be a lot of saline solution and very little active botox.

So how do you make sure you don’t get cheated? Ask the doc two simple questions:

“What is your reconstitution ratio?” this tells you how much saline is added for each unit of botox - or how strong the botox solution is.

“What’s the price per unit of botox” - this tells you what you are paying for a standard unit so you can compare like with like elsewhere. Be warned - if they can’t or won’t tell you then you should draw a conclusion from that.

After all - even if you aren’t too bothered about price - lower strength botox injections will end up failing to deliver the wrinkle free younger looking face you had in mind!

Related articles:

• Botox injections get the facts
• The real cost of botox injections