Neurotoxin Units Deciphered

At Advanced Dermatology, our medical providers utilize injections of BOTOX®, Dysport®, Jeuveau®, and Xeomin® to relax facial lines and wrinkles. These are all measured in neurotoxin units and recorded to guarantee consistent future treatment. As with all drugs, different people may respond quite differently to similar doses of any given neurotoxin. Some people are extremely sensitive and require very few units, while others need twice as many units to achieve comparable results. In addition, men typically require more units than women. Lastly, the three main facial treatment areas may require a significantly different number of units based on the local muscle anatomy.

All that being said, one of the most frequent questions regarding neurotoxins is how many units do I need? The answer is complicated and depends on which facial areas are being treated, whether it’s a new or repeat treatment, and how much effect a patient desires from the neurotoxin. For example, the upper forehead lines may only require eight to ten units for an effective treatment, while the mid-brow frown lines or crow’s feet lines may require triple that amount per treatment area. In general, the best results are achieved when all three areas are treated simultaneously. Regarding new versus repeat treatment, if a patient has been “too frozen” in the past, we will decrease the units, however, we may increase units if there has been too much movement with prior treatment. And finally, if more movement and expression is desired, fewer units will be injected, whereas if a patient desires a greater degree of reduction of facial lines, we will use more units.

The bottom line is that there is no specific overall number of neurotoxin units that will work well for all patients. It is unlikely that a patient will require fewer than 40 units of neurotoxin to treat all three popular areas, and it is much more likely that we will utilize50-60 units of neurotoxin for optimal results. On the higher end, some patients will need 70 or more units of neurotoxin to achieve desired results. In any case, if you are interested in learning more about neurotoxins, please schedule a cosmetic consultation by calling or texting 847-459-6400 to learn more about what is best for you.