Botox vial looks empty & how to reconstitute botox
Why does your botox vial look empty when receiving a new unopened vial? In today's article we'll cover why it looks empty and how to get your toxin ready to use by diluting it with 0.9% sodium chloride.
Why does botox vial look empty?
So if it is your first time to receive toxins, don't be surprised if your botox vial looks empty. This is completely normal and is exactly how it should look like. Take a closer look at the bottom of the vial and you will either find a very fine white powder or you will find transparent dried circles. This is because these types of toxins are vacuum sealed, and you need to reconstitute them with saline in order to use them.
There are 2 methods to produce vacuum sealed toxins. During both production processes the botox is frozen and the ice is evaporated under low pressure. Let's go over both of them.
1. Freeze-Drying Method
The first one uses a vacuum freeze-drying method which is based on water melting point. Some example brands that use this method are Botulax, Liztox, Rentox and G-tox.
2. Vacuum Drying Method
The second method is the vacuum drying method which is based on water boiling point. Nabota, Neotox, Toxta, Wondertox and Ellelux are all brands that use this manufacturing method. The toxin state of this type looks like dried transparent circles at the bottom of the vial.
How To Reconstitute Botox
Once you receive your products, it is highly recommended to instantly put the botox vials in a refrigerator (preferably a medical refrigerator) with a temperature between 2-8 degrees Celsius (or 35.6-46.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Do not worry if the botox vials you have received are warm or have been left outside. Toxins can survive in higher temperatures for a couple of days or weeks. The worst thing that can happen is getting no effect when you use your toxing, simply because the toxins may have died if left out in the heat for more than a week. So try to not leave it out of the refrigerator for too long once you have received the botox vials.
There are no fixed guidelines for reconstituting botox as it depends on the brand and the individual patient, but the process is pretty simple and can be replicated with most botulinum toxin brands. The only Botox product that doesn't need to be reconstituted is Innotox which comes premixed. Fortunately, there are a lot of good alternatives to Innotox which have similar properties.
If you take a look at the reconstitution chart which you can find in the brochure included with your botox product, you will find that there's different ratios of saline that you can mix your toxin with. Below is an example of the dilution chart for Nabota 100U.
This might be a little confusing and the dilution ratio really depends on the individual. Some people like to get their toxin stronger while others like to have it more diluted, the amount of saline that is reconstituted with your toxin will determine its results. For first timers it is recommended to use a high concentration of saline, especially if you are still pretty young. The most common resulting dose of toxin is 2.5U per 0.1mL, which is comparable to the famous Innotox product. Meaning, for any 100U product, you need to dilute it with 4mL of saline.
Please remember that this is just a guideline measure, depending on the individual and the toxins, it may require different amounts of saline for reconstitution.
To reconstitute botox, use an insulin syringe which is typically 0.5 mil. There are numerical gradations on this syringe ranging from 0 to 50 each 10 of these represent 0.1 mil and each 0.1 of ml represents 5 units of botox so from zero to 10 we are able to fill 5 units of botox then from 10 to 20, 5 units more till we can fill 25 units of botox in 0.5ml syringe so we will end up with 4 syringes of 0.5ml each, and each contains 25 unit of the product.
Get your syringes and fill them with 0.1ml of saline each. Make sure that there are no air bubbles in the syringe. Open the vial cap and put the saline in. You don't need to inject the saline into the vial, you simply need to insert the needle and the vacuum will suck the saline into the vial.
Do not shake the vial you can only rotate it gently or give it a gentle swirl to make sure that the toxin is mixed with the saline
Now your toxin is ready to use. You only need to fill up your syringes with the toxin that you prepared and that depends on how you like to have it. Some people fill only 4 syringes with 25 units each and some prefer to spread their toxin out among a bunch of needles. Just to avoid getting injected by a dull needle.
It is important to not reconstitute your botulinum toxin until you're ready to use it because it really shouldn't be stored for more than 24h after reconstitution.
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