Botox - The Price You Pay
Just when you’ve sorted out your mixed feelings about being injected with Botulinum Toxin Type A, your research has left you a variety of pricing options, ushering in a new batch of confusion.
Allow me to explain. Botox is charged either by the area or by the ‘unit’. Common areas are usually (1) between the brows for the perma-scowl, (2) higher on the forehead for horizontal worry lines, and (3) around the eyes for crow’s feet. Doctors (or nurses) will usually charge a price for one area, say $300 for between the brows, and often discount other areas you have done on the same day (say, $200 for any additional area). And I used to get asked this all the time: yes, one area charge covers both eyes (or it certainly should do).
Now, by the unit: A unit is generally .1cc of a Botox dilution, and I’m not going to muddy up this article with estimates of how many units you would need for this or that – it’s all out there on the net (search words: Botox unit pricing). So, given how Botox is prepared (see “Botox: What They Don’t Want You to Know”
this is what gives me pause about the ‘unit’ approach: how much saline solution was added to the Botox? The more solution, the less potent.
Still, there are definite advantages to the unit approach of pricing. Botox is being used all over the face now (it’s not just for the eyes up anymore; lip lines, neck bands, the nose bridge for bunny lines, they’re all getting into the act) and often it’s used in very small amounts making large area pricing outmoded – in fact area pricing is getting rarer every day. And of course, area pricing is no guarantee that you will have a higher strength mixture.
It's always prudent to find out what the policy is if the Botox does not take. And don’t let them fool you: it would be extremely rare if you were resistant to the effects of Botox. Extremely. In almost three years working with a dermatologist, I never saw it not take. So while Botox will not remove all movement (contrary to popular mythology, see "Botox: Once More Without Feeling"), if you can still flex a substantial groove between those brows, by all means let the practice know. Word-of-mouth is crucial to any business, and they have a lot to lose by engendering your ill will.
