By Dr. Keswani, MD — Forever Medspa & Wellness Center
A client looks at her treatment plan and frowns: “Sixty units of Dysport? Last time I only needed twenty of Botox. Why do I suddenly need three times as much?” It’s one of the most common misunderstandings in this field, and it’s completely reasonable — because almost nobody explains what a “unit” actually is.
A unit is each brand’s own yardstick
Here’s the thing: a unit is not a universal measure like milligrams. Each brand defines a unit as its own measure of its own medication, based on that brand’s own clinical studies. A Dysport unit and a Botox unit were never meant to be the same size — they’re two different rulers.
Think of it like currency. Sixty of one currency isn’t “more money” than twenty of another until you do the conversion. Same here.
So when your plan says 60 units of Dysport instead of 20 of Botox, two things are true. First, needing more units of one brand does not mean that brand is weaker. Second — and people worry about this — it is not more injections or more pinches. It’s purely how that brand counts.
Why Botox is the reference point
You’ll notice everyone converts to Botox units. That’s not because Botox is the standard of quality — it’s simply the longest-known brand, so it became the common reference. All five brands we carry work identically at the nerve-muscle junction. There’s no wrong choice among the five; the differences are in onset speed, dosing, and value.
The conversions, roughly
Conversion factors between brands are approximate — the honest answer is that we adjust empirically when a client switches brands. But here’s the working map:
- Dysport: the general rule is about 2.5 to 3 Dysport units per 1 Botox unit. In our clinic we dose at 3:1, and in my experience that ratio gives slightly more effect than the equivalent Botox dose.
- Daxxify: about 2 Daxxify units per 1 Botox unit — and in my experience, slightly more effect at that ratio too.
- Xeomin: roughly 1:1 with Botox, though in our experience it takes a little more than 1:1 for the same effect. That’s observation from practice, not a study.
- Letybo: slightly more than Xeomin, relative to Botox units.
Notice how much “in my experience” appears in that list. That’s deliberate. The published conversions are starting points; the real calibration happens by watching how your muscles respond and adjusting from there.
Why per-unit price comparisons mislead
This is where the unit confusion costs people real money — or at least real confusion. Someone sees that Brand A costs less per unit than Brand B and concludes Brand A is the better deal. But without the conversion math, that comparison is meaningless. If you need three times as many units of one brand to get the same result, the per-unit number tells you nothing on its own.
It cuts the other way too: a brand with a higher per-unit number isn’t automatically expensive, and a brand that needs more units isn’t automatically diluted or inferior. The unit is just that brand’s way of counting its own medication.
How we dose equivalently at our clinic
When you come in, we think in terms of the result, not the unit count. If your forehead needs a certain amount of relaxation, we know what that looks like in Botox units, in Dysport units at our 3:1 ratio, in Daxxify at 2:1, and so on. Switch brands between visits and we convert for you, then fine-tune based on how you actually respond — change, and then we see.
This is also why our tox program prices by brand and by result rather than making you do per-unit arithmetic. You’re paying for the covered result, not watching a meter run. The brands have different costs, so the program price differs by brand — but within each brand, the plan is built so the dosing math is our problem, not yours.
The bottom line
Sixty units of Dysport isn’t “more treatment” than twenty of Botox — it’s the same conversation in a different language. Don’t compare brands by their per-unit numbers, and don’t let a bigger unit count worry you. All five brands we carry are excellent; the right one for you depends on your goals, and we’re happy to walk through it.
If you want the fuller picture of how the five brands differ in onset, feel and value, read my guide on how to choose between Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, Letybo and Daxxify.
For current pricing and offers, text us at (201) 340-4809 or check our Promotions page. Ready to come in? Book online at forevermedspanj.com/book/tox.
