Reloxin is another compound of botulinum toxin A, the active ingredient in Botox, that should be available soon.
The good news is that having a competitor for BOTOX® Cosmetic should help to bring down prices.
But if you’re thinking that every Botox-injector is going to immediately switch over to the newer product, think again.
Reloxin doesn’t behave exactly like Botox. The dose and volume injected has to be adjusted to achieve the equivalent effect as Botox. Many injectors may be unwilling to make the switch, preferring to stick to the tried-and-true to something new.
This article gives a pretty good overview of what many cosmetic doctors are thinking about Reloxin and Botox.
To my mind, this is the critical issue with Reloxin:
“[Reloxin] disperses a little more beyond the area of injection than Botox does,” noted Dr. Robert Singer, chairman of the nonsurgical procedures committee of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. “Because it disperses more, there has to be a greater knowledge on the part of the individual doing the injecting to avoid problems like eyelid drooping, brow drooping and other complications.”
For myself, I won’t make a decision about Reloxin until I have had a chance to try it on a few people and see firsthand how it compares to Botox.