Injectables
Dysport® in North Spokane same job, different product
Dysport is a neurotoxin in the same family as Botox, used for the same expression lines. It tends to show up a day or two sooner and to spread a little further from each injection point.
The Treatment
Why we carry both.
Dysport and Botox interrupt the same signal in the same way: they block the neurotransmitter that tells a muscle to fire, so the skin above it stops folding. The practical difference is timing. Dysport usually shows up in two to three days where Botox takes three to seven.
That is most of it. Anyone telling you one is categorically better than the other is selling something. Liz chooses based on the area, how your muscles are built, and what you have responded to before, and she is straightforward that genetics and lifestyle also influence how long it lasts. If you have been happy on one for years, there is no reason to switch.
“I don't think Dysport is better than Botox. I do appreciate that it kicks in earlier. Which one suits you comes down to your genetics and your lifestyle.”
Liz Gilroy, ARNP
- Appointment
- About 15 minutes once you have had your consultation
- First results
- 2 to 3 days
- Full effect
- Around 2 weeks
- How long it lasts
- 3 to 4 months for most people
- Downtime
- None, though mild bruising is possible. Small raised bumps settle within an hour
Treatment Areas
Where it goes.
The same expression lines Botox treats:
- Frown lines between the brows
- Forehead lines
- Crow’s feet
Dysport is FDA-approved for the frown lines between the brows. Use in the forehead and around the eyes is common practice and off-label, which is true of a great deal of good aesthetic medicine. As with Botox, there are areas Liz will not treat because the muscle creasing the skin is also holding something up.
What to Expect
How the appointment goes.
You start with a consultation
Liz watches how your face moves, asks what you have had before and how it went, and recommends a product and a dose. If Botox is the better fit for your face, she will say that instead.
She marks your face first
Every area, every time. She does it because a systematic treatment leaves less room for error.
The injections take about fifteen minutes
A series of small injections with a fine needle. The sensation is the same as Botox: a quick sting, over in a second.
Ninety minutes later you are done worrying
No massage the day of, nothing that makes you sweat heavily for a sustained stretch, saunas especially, and hands off the area for fifteen minutes. After roughly ninety minutes the product has bound where it was placed.
It settles over two weeks
Often visible by day two or three. Give it the full two weeks before you decide.
Pricing
What it costs.
Dysport is priced per unit, and this is where people get confused: a Dysport unit is not the same size as a Botox unit. It takes roughly two and a half to three Dysport units to do the work of one Botox unit, so the per-unit price is lower and the unit count is higher. Comparing the two on per-unit price alone will mislead you. What matters is the total for your treatment, and you will have that number before anything happens.
Questions
What people ask.
No. The units are measured differently, so the numbers are not comparable. Roughly two and a half to three Dysport units equal one Botox unit. Dosed properly, the result and the duration are about the same.
This is the question Liz gets every time, and her answer is no. She likes that it starts working sooner. Beyond that, which neurotoxin suits a particular person comes down to their genetics and their lifestyle, which is not something anyone can predict from a chart.
One thing, and it matters: Dysport contains a cow’s milk protein. If you have a true dairy allergy you should not have it, and you should tell Liz at your consultation. Botox is the alternative.
Usually, by a day or two. Two to three days is typical for the first change, against three to seven for Botox. Both take about two weeks to finish settling.
Three to four months on average, the same range as Botox. Some people stretch to four to six months and some barely hold three, and lifestyle and genetics seem to decide which.
Retreating too soon is how resistance develops, and there are published studies on it for both Dysport and Botox. Liz wants roughly ninety days between treatments.
Liz calls these anticipated rather than potential, because the list is known: bruising, a mild headache, and some tenderness at the site. She will not promise you will not bruise. The headache is usually mild enough that you will not reach for anything, though you are welcome to.
Yes, and plenty of people do. There is no washout period and no harm in alternating, though there is no particular benefit to it either. Tell Liz what you have had most recently so she doses accordingly.
Book with Liz Gilroy, ARNP.
New patients start with a consultation. You will hear what we recommend, what it costs, and whether we think you need it at all.
