After years of having only one wrinkle relaxer available for use in the U. S.—that is, Botox, the FDA has now approved a new wrinkle relaxer called Dysport. Like Botox, Dysport is FDA approved only for use in the frown line area. However, as with Botox, Dysport has shown itself to be useful in what is called in the industry “off-label uses”. In the facial area, wrinkles in the forehead, “crow’s feet” wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, and even the fine lines around the mouth—”smoker’s lines”, can be relaxed and made to appear less prominent with Dysport. However, while both Dysport and Botox are effective in reducing wrinkles, keep in mind that they may differ as to the length of time before results are seen as well as the length of time the results will last. As always, the amount of the product used should be tailored to each patient and not be administered “cookbook-style”. The amount of product needed to achieve a good response differs with each patient. Some patients need more than the recommended amount of wrinkle relaxer (for example, men often need more units than women in the same facial areas), while others can achieve a good result with less.

Dysport has been promoted as a cheaper alternative to Botox, but as always, “buyer beware”. Patients need to be careful when comparing fees as a cheaper price may simply mean using less units of the product. An inadequate dose equals an inadequate response! Cheaper is not always better and it remains to be seen if the test of time will reveal differences in performance between Dysport and Botox which will ultimately lead phyicians to choose one over the other.