12/05/2025
New in Everyday Health: “baby Botox” has always been popular with my patients, and now it’s a trending topic in aesthetics so I was happy to share information and best practices for this article. While there’s no standardized definition of this term, I generally view it as preserving movement and maintaining plausible deniability with a light treatment that involves fewer units than FDA-approved standard neuromodulator dosing. For reference, the FDA-approved standard is 20U of Botox for the glabella (frown lines), 20U to the upper forehead, and 24 units to the crow’s feet. Since there’s a dose-response relationship, the lower the dose the shorter the duration of effect… however I have lots of patients who love the results from a light treatment 2-3 times per year that just helps their skin look better rather than leaving them looking frozen. 🧊
Proponents of preventive Botox say it may help younger adults stay wrinkle-free for longer. But it’s not without risk.