Lidlift Kenneth D. Steinsapir, M.D.
Cosmetic, Facial & Eye Plastic Surgery

I am very confused about how BOTOX® is priced. Some places offer it by the unit and some places charge by the area. Whats up?

Welcome to retail medicine. Offices seem to intentionally confuse people as a way of getting them into the office. One office we are aware of advertises BOTOX® for $99 per area but if you count up the number of areas needed to treat the forehead and eyebrow, it is about 12 "areas." Medically speaking, there is no such thing as an "area." If you did get this service, you would still have no idea how much BOTOX® was administered. The other scam is selling BOTOX® by syringe. However, one syringe (typically one milliliter by volume) can contain as much as 50 units of BOTOX® or as little as no BOTOX® (afraid so). Allergan, Inc. supplies the medication in a dry vial. The doctor decides how to dilute the medication. Ethical offices use dilutions that generally vary from 2 to 4 ml of saline, so that a 1 ml syringe should contain from 50 to 25 units of BOTOX®. BOTOX® sold by the "unit" can also be deceptive as it is very difficult for the consumer to know what they are getting. At a minimum, you should insist on being told the total number of units the office is purporting to treat you with so you have a basis for future comparison. Dr. Steinsapir does not believe in pricing treatment by the unit or by the area. These pricing strategies force the consumer to practice medicine. Rather he prices BOTOX® by the service with most women receiving a treatment of 33 units of BOTOX® which is utilized for the Microdroplet™ BOTOX® service described above. This level of service works well for many men but some men (and also some women) have quite large muscle groups along the eyebrow and they benefit from a higher dose of BOTOX®. Dr. Steinsapir will tell you what he thinks you need to achieve the best possible result from Microdroplet™ BOTOX®.