Mapo Botox: 3 Things to Check Before You Regret Getting It Cheap

Hello. I’m Wonjin Cho, the director of Chai Clinic, where I have been practicing dermatology in Hongdae for 10 years.

“I’ve had Botox at several places. Why are the results different every time?”

“I heard that Botox stops working if you keep getting it. Is that true?”

Botox is not simply a matter of getting one injection. It is a procedure that requires a precise analysis of each person’s muscle movements and skin elasticity.

Even in the same area, a dose that is appropriate for one person may be excessive for another.

That is why quite a few people end up with ineffective results or struggle with resistance after choosing a clinic simply because it was cheap.

Today, I’ll summarize the three things you should check to avoid regretting getting cheap Botox in Mapo.

Table of Contents

• Whether your wrinkles are the type that Botox can improve

• Why diluted Botox (“water Botox”) can be risky

• How to choose Mapo Botox using these three criteria

Whether Your Wrinkles Are the Type That Botox Can Improve

Many people expect all wrinkles to disappear after getting Botox, but wrinkles can generally be divided into two types.

Dynamic wrinkles that appear when you smile or frown can be prevented from becoming deeper by relaxing the muscles with Botox.

On the other hand, static wrinkles that remain visible even when your face is expressionless cannot be smoothed out with Botox, much like a crease in a piece of paper that has been folded for a long time.

If too much Botox is injected near the eyebrows in an attempt to smooth these wrinkles, side effects such as heavy-feeling eyes may occur.

Nasolabial folds, neck wrinkles, and other static wrinkles may involve adhesions between tissues beneath the skin.

In such cases, the adhesions need to be released—a procedure known as subcision—and the depressed areas need to be filled with a filler or Juvelook.

The procedure of releasing the tissue beneath the skin that is pulling down on the wrinkled area, as shown in the photo above, is called subcision.

The appropriate method varies depending on the area, shape, age, and skin condition.

So the claim that “one shot of Botox will smooth everything out” is essentially incorrect.

A trustworthy clinic is one that first determines whether your wrinkles are dynamic or static and explains the situation honestly.

If a clinic says it can treat something that it cannot, you will ultimately spend money without seeing results.

Why Diluted Botox (“Water Botox”) Can Be Risky

The concentration of the medication in the syringe is what determines the effect.

Botox is prepared by mixing a powder with saline. If too much saline is added, the concentration becomes diluted.

Most cases where Botox is ineffective at an unrealistically low price fall into this category.

(You’ve seen lots of event prices like 30,000 won for 0 cc, right?)

A low price may not simply mean that you are receiving a larger volume.

The product may have been diluted with a large amount of saline to increase the volume, so what matters is how much of the active ingredient is actually included.

A low concentration not only produces a weaker effect, but may also shorten how long the results last, leading you to shorten the interval between treatments.

The more frequently you receive treatment, the more you spend, and frequent procedures can begin a vicious cycle by increasing the risk of resistance.

It may look cheap right away, but over the course of a year, it could actually cost you more.

So how can you find out?

Ask how many “units” of the medication are being used, and you may also want to ask whether the original product can be opened in front of you.

An honest clinic has no reason to avoid opening the genuine product and disclosing the dosage.

How to Choose Mapo Botox Using These Three Criteria

1. Do they diagnose the type of wrinkle and explain it honestly?

A trustworthy clinic distinguishes between wrinkles that Botox can treat and those better suited to filler, and is willing to say, “Botox will not work for this.”

As shown in the photo above, nasolabial folds often do not improve significantly with Botox. In the case above, the nasolabial folds were naturally improved by injecting a small amount of filler.

2. Do they transparently disclose the Botox concentration and product?

Check whether they clearly tell you the number of units and open the genuine product for you to see.

Clinics that emphasize only the number of cc’s and are unusually cheap may be using diluted Botox.

If an implausibly small number of units is used for wrinkle treatment, it cannot reasonably be expected to be effective.

Also, because Botox is often administered repeatedly, clinics that record the previous dosage and results in your chart and adjust the treatment next time tend to achieve better results.

A case of masseter Botox treatment. Because the muscle volume differed on each side, it is advisable to take this asymmetry into account when administering the treatment.

Rather than moving between different clinics for the lowest price, it is more beneficial to build up treatment data at one clinic.

Some clinics may not actually keep these records, even though it may seem like they all do.

I wrote below about how to choose a clinic that manages treatment data properly.

3. If you plan to receive Botox for a long time, do they discuss the product with you?

For people who plan to receive treatment frequently over the long term, a clinic should discuss options suited to their goals, such as purified toxins with reduced resistance—Coretox or Xeomin, for example.

If you are just starting out, they may recommend a more affordable Korean Botox product.

For areas such as the square jaw and trapezius muscles, where high doses may be administered over a long period, paying attention to product selection from the beginning can be helpful when managing resistance.

Once resistance develops, the same medication may not work as well, making treatment more inconvenient.

In the long run, planning the appropriate dosage, treatment interval, and product from the beginning can also help reduce costs.

Of course, a reasonable price is important.

However, Botox is a procedure whose effects remain on your face for three to six months.

Considering that if something goes wrong, you may have to wait until the effects wear off, this is not an area where you should decide based solely on the lowest price.

Surprisingly, many people who should not have received masseter Botox experience facial sagging afterward and inquire about lifting procedures.

In Closing

To summarize, for Mapo Botox, you should not choose “the cheapest clinic.”

To avoid regret, receive treatment at a clinic that “diagnoses the type of your wrinkles and transparently uses the concentration and product appropriate for you.”

I’ve organized information below on how to receive Botox properly for each area, so please read it before getting treatment.

Masseter Botox

Forehead/Glabellar Botox

Skin Botox

Corner-of-the-mouth Botox

Thank you. This was Wonjin Cho.