Gangnam Botox: Units, Timing and Pairings in Seoul

Prices below come from the listed clinics' own price lists, before VAT. 10% VAT is added at payment.

Clinics in the district stock both imported toxins, such as Botox by Allergan and Xeomin by Merz, and Korean-made ones, such as Nabota, Coretox and several local brands. Each is dosed in its own units, so ten units of one product is not the same amount as ten units of another. Comparing two plans only works when you read the product and the units together.

A written plan should list each area, the product and the units for that area, plus whether a review at about two weeks is included. Frown lines, the forehead and crow's feet are small muscles; the jaw and shoulder are large ones planned separately. If a plan names only the area, ask for the units before the needle comes out.

Sometimes, within limits that a doctor sets. In a 2021 review in Toxins, Kaufman-Janette and colleagues looked at five studies published since 2015 that tested frown-line doses above each product's licensed label. Most were randomized, double-blind trials. With some products the median effect lasted around six months, and with others around nine months, against the usual three to four. The authors did not find extra safety problems in those trials, and patients still rated the look as natural.

The finding has clear edges: frown lines only, products licensed in the US or Europe, and the authors ask for more data. It is not a reason to request extra units everywhere, because larger doses near the eyes or mouth can weaken muscles you want to keep moving.

Many visitors try to fit several treatments into one Gangnam stay. Toxin relaxes movement, filler restores volume, collagen stimulators such as poly-L-lactic acid, calcium hydroxylapatite or polycaprolactone build firmness slowly, and devices like focused ultrasound or fractional laser act on the skin itself.

A 2024 systematic review in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery by Tam and colleagues screened 1,237 studies and kept 29 that combined collagen stimulators with toxin, filler or devices. Pairings with devices improved texture, elasticity and contour in many of them. The review also counted redness, bruising and small nodules in 15 to 30 percent of cases, with rare serious events such as granulomas or blocked blood vessels. Study sizes ranged from 10 to 350 people and methods varied widely, so the authors called the evidence promising but not settled.

Keep it simple on a first treatment, when you fly out within a day or two of a filler or stimulator, or when you have reacted to an injection before. One area of toxin is easy to judge at two weeks; several layered products make it hard to tell which caused a bump.

Postpone injections during pregnancy or breastfeeding, with a nerve or muscle disorder, an infection on the area, or medicine that affects bleeding. Tell the doctor about every treatment booked elsewhere on the trip.