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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Dermapedia / CompareProcedures
Dysport vs Restylane
Dysport relaxes muscles. It softens the frown lines that only show up when you move your face. Restylane adds volume. It is a family of gels for the hollows and folds you can see when your face is still, and many people have both at one visit.
At a glance
| The difference | Dysport | Restylane |
|---|---|---|
| Which lines does it treat | Lines that appear when you move | Lines and hollows that are there at rest |
| Cost | Repeat it when it wears off | Depends on how much gel is used |
Restylane
Lip filler being placed. The needle enters at the lip border and the product is added in small amounts along its length rather than all at one point.
Side by side
The differences that matter
Which lines does it treat
Dysport
Lines that appear when you move
The frown lines between the brows. Dysport works on the muscle that makes them, not on the skin itself.
Restylane
Lines and hollows that are there at rest
Folds, thin lips and flat areas that you can still see when your face is completely still.
What you actually do
Dysport
Small injections into one muscle group
Several small shots into the frown muscles. How many depends on the area being treated, not on the brand.
Restylane
Gel injected under the skin, area by area
The product is matched to the area. Restylane is a family of products, not one product.
What you see on the day
Dysport
Nothing yet
The muscle relaxes over the days that follow.
Restylane
Volume straight away, plus swelling
In the cheek trial for Restylane Lyft, about half of people had at least one side effect. The most common were bruising at the injection site (18%), pain (9%) and swelling (8%). Most cleared within 11 days.
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 cannot do
Dysport
It adds no volume at all
It takes up no space. It cannot fill a hollow cheek, a flat chin or a thin lip.
Restylane
It does not relax a muscle
A crease made purely by muscle movement is not a volume problem. Adding gel treats the wrong cause.
Whether it can be undone
Dysport
No, but it wears off on its own
There is nothing to remove. You wait for it to fade.
Restylane
Hyaluronic acid can be dissolved
An enzyme called hyaluronidase breaks it down. In lab testing, Restylane gels broke down at lower enzyme doses than Juvederm gels did.
Cost
Dysport
Repeat it when it wears off
It is temporary and repeatable. Plan for it as an ongoing cost, not a one-off.
Restylane
Depends on how much gel is used
The gel is sold by volume. Cost follows how much goes in and how many areas are treated.
The at-home or drugstore version
Dysport
No home version
"Botox in a bottle" serums are sold everywhere. A cream sits on the surface of the skin. It cannot reach a muscle several millimetres down.
Restylane
No home version either
Lip plumpers mildly irritate the lip so it swells for a few hours. That is not the same as placing a gel under the skin, and the swelling goes as soon as the irritation settles.
Who tends to be happy with it
Dysport
- Best for — Someone bothered by frown lines that appear between the brows on movement.
- The mindset — One muscle group, temporary, repeatable.
Restylane
- Best for — Someone with a hollow, a fold or a thin area that shows when the face is still.
- The mindset — Match the product to the area.
The fine print
Dysport
Dysport's only US cosmetic approval is for frown lines. Moderate to severe glabellar lines, the lines between the brows, in adults under 65. The label dose is 50 Units, given as five equal 10-Unit injections. Dysport Units do not convert into any other brand's units. There is no US cosmetic indication for crow's feet or forehead lines.
Restylane
Restylane's approvals run area by area, product by product. Restylane and Restylane-L are approved for facial wrinkles and folds, and for lips. Other products in the range carry their own separate approvals, added over time — for example, Lyft with Lidocaine for the backs of the hands (2018) and the chin (2025), Defyne for the chin (2021), Eyelight for under-eye hollowing (2023) and Contour for temple hollowing (2026). Syringes come in 0.5 mL and 1.0 mL fills depending on the product; Eyelight is supplied in 0.5 mL.
Common questions
Questions Patients Ask
Can I get Dysport and Restylane on the same day?
It is commonly done and the two treat different problems, so there is no conflict in principle. No published trial has compared same-day treatment against separate appointments, so there is no evidence-based rule to quote. Ask your injector what their own routine is and why.
Does the order matter?
No published evidence establishes one. Randomized trials that combined a botulinum toxin with a hyaluronic acid filler reported better results than either alone, but none of them compared one sequence against another. Any order you are given is convention, not a tested protocol.
How long should I wait between them if I do them separately?
There is no published interval. If you are working to a date, the practical constraint is filler: bruising and swelling are common and take days to settle, and the result is hard to judge until they do.
Can Restylane treat my frown lines instead of Dysport?
It is the wrong mechanism for a line that only appears on movement. Restylane products carry approvals for facial wrinkles and folds, lips, cheeks, chin, hands, temples and under-eye hollows - all volume problems. FDA's dermal filler page lists the glabella among areas where filler injection is not an approved use.
Can Dysport do anything Restylane does?
No. Dysport adds no volume. It blocks the nerve signal to a muscle, and its only US cosmetic approval is for glabellar lines in adults under 65.
If something goes wrong, can either be reversed?
Restylane is hyaluronic acid and can be broken down with hyaluronidase, though that use is off-label in the US and there is no standardized dose. Dysport cannot be reversed; it wears off. That difference is the main reason it is worth knowing which product went where.
Which costs more?
There is no current published price for either. The last American Society of Plastic Surgeons figure for hyaluronic acid fillers was $715, from 2023 - a per-procedure surgeon or physician fee that pooled many products across every facial area and excluded facility costs. It is not a per-syringe price, and ASPS stopped publishing minimally invasive fees after 2023.
Safety to keep in mind
The two went through different FDA routes. Restylane products are Class III devices approved through the premarket approval (PMA) route, one named area at a time. Dysport is a drug, and its label calls it "an acetylcholine release inhibitor and a neuromuscular blocking agent."
Two products are limited to trained injectors. Restylane Eyelight is distributed only to injectors who have completed an FDA-approved device-specific training programme. So is Juvederm Voluma XC for the temples. Not every product is available from every injector.
Dissolving filler is off-label in the US. The FDA labeling for Hylenex, a hyaluronidase product, lists three indications, and dissolving filler is not one of them.