Who's a good candidate for Botox?

The provider makes the call. Give complete information and ask direct questions.

Let the provider judge Botox candidacy

Candidacy is the provider's judgment, made from what you disclose. Your job is to bring the right information and the right questions.

Pack your history for the candidacy visit

Read the consent form and any product labeling you are shown ahead of any decision. Both are primary documents.

Bring this to the visit:

1. Your full medication and supplement list.
2. Your medical history, including past reactions to injections.
3. Any pregnancy, nursing, or planned pregnancy.
4. Your goal, stated in one sentence.

Ask the provider these:

1. Is the product on the label, or is it compounded or mixed? Ask where your product comes from and how it is dosed.
2. Who injects, and what license does that person hold?
3. Which findings would make you turn me away?

Ask about the product source too. Read the news report on an investigation into a med spa over harmful injections. Open the hospital health library page on Botox, its results and side effects. Read the news report as a reason to ask about product source, not as a verdict on any provider.

For a survey of what people know and think about these injections, read the cross-sectional study of knowledge and attitude towards botulinum toxin in cosmetic injections among the Arar population in Saudi Arabia. Treat it as a survey, not a candidacy rule.

Book a consultation with your list in hand

1. Write out your medication and history list.
2. Book a consultation and bring the questions above.
3. Keep the consent form unsigned until each answer is on paper.

Expect a licensed clinician to review your history

A licensed clinician reviews your history and makes the candidacy decision.