Dysport
A neurotoxin injection between the brows. Only a small volume goes in at each point, and the effect builds over the following days rather than immediately.
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Dysport vs Juvederm
Dysport relaxes muscles. Juvederm adds volume. Dysport softens the frown lines that only show up when you move your face. Juvederm fills creases and hollows that are still there when your face is at rest. Many people end up having both, and no trial has ever compared the two.
At a glance
| The difference | Dysport | Juvederm |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Paid again each time it wears off | Paid by the syringe |
Juvederm
A filler injection along the jaw. Hyaluronic acid filler adds volume where it is placed, and it can be dissolved later if needed.
Side by side
The differences that matter
What you actually do
Dysport
A few small shots into the frown muscles
A toxin injection blocks the signal that tells a muscle to contract, so the muscle relaxes. Nothing is added to your face.
Juvederm
Gel injected under the skin
A hyaluronic acid gel is placed under the skin to add volume. A larger area needs more gel.
What you can expect to see
Dysport
A softer crease when you frown
The vertical lines between the brows deepen when you concentrate. Relaxing that muscle softens them.
Juvederm
More volume where the gel is placed
Fuller cheeks, a stronger chin or jawline, fuller lips, or a softened fold. The gel is doing the work physically.
More photographs
Dysport
Dysport's protein wrapper comes in a range of sizes, so the bundles are not all the same weight. The lighter molecules can travel farther in the skin. Remember, Dysport Diffuses!
What it will not do
Dysport
Not for lines that stay when you rest
It relaxes a muscle. It cannot fill a crease that is already etched in, and it cannot replace lost volume.
Juvederm
Not for lines caused by movement
It adds volume. It does not quiet the muscle that makes the crease in the first place.
How long it lasts
Dysport
Temporary — it wears off
The effect fades as the nerve endings regrow.
Juvederm
A different number for every product
Each gel has its own trial, and each number is where that trial stopped. For Voluma XC in the cheeks, 85% of people still met a one-grade improvement at 12 months, and 67% at 24 months.
Whether it can be undone
Dysport
Nothing to undo — it wears off
There is no way to reverse it, and nothing to remove.
Juvederm
Dissolved with an enzyme
Hyaluronidase breaks hyaluronic acid down. In lab testing, Juvederm gels were among the most resistant tried. That was in a dish, not in tissue.
The downside
Dysport
Headache, or a drooping eyelid
Effects at the injection site, plus unwanted weakness in a nearby muscle. Headache and a drooping upper eyelid both show up in toxin trials.
Juvederm
Bruising and swelling, plus one rare risk
In the under-eye trial of Volbella XC, 50% reported tenderness, 43% bruising and 42% swelling. Most of it was mild and settled within a week. The serious risk is filler entering an artery.
Cost
Dysport
Paid again each time it wears off
The effect is temporary, so the cost repeats.
Juvederm
Paid by the syringe
Gel is sold by volume, so a larger area costs more. There is no published price per syringe.
The at-home or drugstore version
Dysport
No home version of a toxin
Serums sold as "Botox in a bottle" use peptides. A cream sits on the surface of the skin and cannot reach a muscle several millimetres down.
Juvederm
Lip plumpers are not filler
A plumping gloss mildly irritates the lip so it swells for a few hours. That is not the same as placing a gel under the skin, and it is gone by the end of the day.
Who tends to be happy with it
Dysport
- Best for — Someone whose main complaint is the vertical frown lines that deepen when they concentrate.
- The mindset — A repeatable, temporary treatment aimed at one muscle group.
Juvederm
- Best for — Someone whose face has lost volume, or who has a crease that is still there when the face is completely still.
- The mindset — Pick the specific product for the specific area, and judge it against that product's own numbers.
The fine print
Dysport
Dysport's US cosmetic approval covers one area. Its FDA label covers moderate to severe glabellar lines — the frown lines between the brows — in adults under 65, and nothing else on the cosmetic side. It holds no US cosmetic indication for crow's feet or forehead lines. The label dose is 50 Units total, given as five equal 10-Unit injections.
Dysport's units cannot be converted to another brand's. The label states that its potency units "cannot be compared to or converted into units of any other botulinum toxin products."
Juvederm
Each Juvederm gel is approved on its own. They are Class III devices approved through the FDA's premarket approval (PMA) route, which required clinical evidence for one named area at a time. Voluma XC: cheeks (2013), chin (2020), temples (2023). Ultra XC: wrinkles and folds, plus lips (2015). Volbella XC: lips and perioral lines (2016), under-eye hollows (2021). Vollure XC: wrinkles and folds. Volux XC: jawline (2022). Skinvive: cheek smoothness, and since June 2026, neck lines.
Juvederm gel is measured in millilitres, and a syringe commonly holds 0.5 mL or 1.0 mL.
In lab testing, Juvederm gels needed 300 units of hyaluronidase to break down within an hour. Dissolving filler is also an off-label use in the US: the FDA labeling for Hylenex, a hyaluronidase product, lists three indications, and dissolving dermal filler is not one of them.
Common questions
Questions Patients Ask
Can I have Dysport and Juvederm at the same appointment?
This is commonly done, because the two treat different problems. No published trial has compared doing them in one visit against separate visits, so there is no evidence-based rule about spacing. What is published is a small set of randomized trials showing that adding hyaluronic acid filler to a botulinum toxin treatment produced more improvement than either alone in the lower face, and a longer-lasting result in the forehead and glabella.
Which one works faster?
They are not on the same clock. Juvederm adds volume during the appointment, though swelling makes the first few days unreliable for judging the result. Dysport works by blocking a nerve signal, so the muscle relaxes over the days afterwards rather than immediately.
Is 50 Units of Dysport a lot?
It is the label dose for glabellar lines, given as five 10-Unit injections, and it cannot be compared with any other brand's number. The Dysport label says its units "cannot be compared to or converted into units of any other botulinum toxin products." A brand name has to sit beside every toxin dose figure for it to mean anything.
Can Dysport treat my crow's feet or forehead lines?
Not as an approved use. Dysport's only US cosmetic indication is moderate to severe glabellar lines in adults under 65. Other toxin brands do hold approvals in those areas - Botox Cosmetic has held a lateral canthal line indication since 2013 and a forehead line indication since 2017. Off-label use is legal and routine, but it is worth knowing what a product was actually approved for.
Which one lasts longer?
The question cannot be answered from published evidence, because no trial has compared them and each Juvederm product has its own separate number. Juvederm Voluma XC in the cheek had 67.1% of treated subjects still meeting a one-grade improvement at 24 months, which is where that trial stopped. Juvederm Vollure XC in nasolabial folds was down to 57.5% at 12 months.
Can either be reversed if I hate it?
Juvederm can be broken down with hyaluronidase, an enzyme that cuts hyaluronic acid - though in the US that use is off-label, and Juvederm gels needed higher enzyme doses than several other fillers in laboratory testing. Dysport cannot be reversed, but there is nothing to remove: it wears off.
Which costs more?
There is no current published price for either. The last year the American Society of Plastic Surgeons published filler fees was 2023, when the average surgeon or physician fee for hyaluronic acid fillers was $715 - a per-procedure figure that pooled more than ten products across every facial area, excluded facility and anaesthesia costs, and is not a per-syringe price. ASPS stopped reporting minimally invasive fees after 2023, and no professional society publishes a per-syringe price.
Safety to keep in mind
The duration figures come from separate trials with no treated comparison group. They say nothing about how one Juvederm product compares with another, or with any other brand. Vollure XC in the folds beside the nose reported 58% at 12 months and 59% at 18 months.
FDA does not list the frown lines as an approved filler area. Its dermal filler page lists the glabella among areas where filler injection is not an approved use.