Body Botox — PECHE Clinic, Gangnam Station

Body Botox

Body Botox places botulinum toxin into body muscles whose bulk concerns you — the trapezius at the shoulders, the upper arms, calves, or thighs — making those muscles work less. The muscle doesn't disappear; its bulk decreases while it goes unused.

▲ An anatomical drawing of the neck and shoulders from behind — the red muscle spread wide from the neck bones and the back of the head out to the shoulders is the trapezius, and its upper portion is what sets the height of the shoulder line. The ivory at either side is the shoulder blade

The body's muscles are larger and thicker than the face's. The trapezius, running from neck to shoulder, makes the height of the shoulder line; the calf muscles set the fullness of the back of the leg. Reduce the nerve's signal telling the muscle to engage, and that muscle is used less — and a muscle that goes unused loses bulk.

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When to Consider It

• Your neck looks short and your shoulder line rises high
• Clothes that show the shoulder line make your upper body look broad
• The muscle at the back of your calf bulges as if knotted
• Your upper arms look thick even when relaxed
• The front of your thighs is developed enough to make pants feel tight
• You've cut back on exercise, but the muscle bulk stays

If fat is the cause rather than muscle, reducing the muscle won't change the thickness much. A high-looking trapezius line is also shaped by posture and shoulder structure. Which one is at work gets confirmed in your consultation.

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A Larger Dose Than the Face

Body muscles are large and broad, so the amount going in is different from the start — the trapezius or calves start from 100 units and up. That's why, with this treatment, we look at the total amount going in at once, and the interval to your next session before anything else.

▲ A vertical cross-section of the back of the calf — beneath the epidermis, dermis, and yellow subcutaneous fat, the red muscle bulging in two heads is the gastrocnemius, the broad muscle below it is the soleus, and at the very bottom is the leg bone. The needle tip and teal product stay within the gastrocnemius only

There's a reason we don't apply numbing cream. Cream only numbs the skin's surface — it doesn't reach the deep muscle layer where the product spreads, and that layer is exactly where the heavy ache arises, so cream wouldn't reduce the pain. Instead, 100-unit sessions use a cold roller to dull the surface sensation, and sessions of 200 units and up run briefly with no separate numbing. If you're on the sensitive side, tell us before we start.

Treatment areas	Trapezius · upper arms · calves · thighs
Configurations	100 units · 200 units · 300 units

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How It's Done

1. Consultation and cause check We compare the thickness with the muscle engaged and relaxed, checking whether the muscle is the cause.

2. Range and dose decision From the areas you want treated and the difference between sides, we set the total needed (100, 200, or 300 units) and the points to divide it across.

3. Numbing For 100 units, a cold roller dulls the sensation before we start.

4. Injection Divided doses are placed at several points along where the muscle runs thickest.

5. Aftercare guidance We go over what to follow for the day, including avoiding hard exercise.

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Results and Recovery

Item	Details
Where it acts	The muscle layer of the trapezius, upper arms, calves, or thighs
Amount per session	100 units and up — a unit is the measure of the drug's amount · varies with the number of areas and how developed the muscle is
When results show	Strength starts easing from days 3–7 and is clearest at week 2; the bulk change emerges gradually after that — the signal doesn't cut off at once; it tapers over several days
How long it lasts	3–6 months
Repeat cycle	5–6 months or longer — we also look at when the reduced muscle begins to regain its bulk
Pain	The needle itself is a light, shallow prick. But in sessions of 200 units and up, which run without numbing, a heavy, unpleasant ache as the large amount spreads through the muscle lingers for a while after the session
Pain control	100 units: a cold roller · 200 units and up: no separate numbing — cream doesn't reach the deep muscle layer, so it isn't used
Downtime	The marks at the injection points settle within 1–2 hours · bruises, if any, fade within 3–7 days
For the day	Don't lie down for 4–6 hours · skip saunas, hard exercise, and massaging the treated area — all to keep the product from spreading beyond where it was placed
What you may notice early on	For the first 1–2 weeks, climbing stairs or lifting heavy things can feel like your limbs are heavy and not giving the strength you expect — you adapt gradually and it eases within a month

As the effect fades, you use the muscle again and its bulk returns. Areas treated over several rounds tend not to regain their former size, or regain it more slowly.

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Expected Reactions and Possible Side Effects

Common, temporary reactions — part of the normal response:

• Marks at the injection points, settling within 1–2 hours
• Bruises, if any, fading within 3–7 days
• For sessions of 200 units and up, a heavy ache in the muscle that lingers for a while after the session
• For the first 1–2 weeks, limbs feeling heavy with less strength than expected — easing within a month as you adapt

Anything beyond this is uncommon. If a reaction lasts longer than expected or worsens, contact us and we'll check it with you.

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What We Check Beforehand

If any of these apply to you, let us know during your consultation. We postpone or adjust the timing.

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Conditions affecting the point where nerves meet muscles, such as myasthenia gravis — the very site where botulinum toxin acts, so symptoms could worsen
• Medications that affect nerve–muscle signaling (including some antibiotics)
• A competition, exam, or other strength-dependent schedule coming up — early on you may feel less strength than usual, so we adjust the timing
• Work that keeps you standing or walking for long stretches — tell us in advance, especially for calves
• Inflammation or wounds at the injection site
• Aspirin or blood thinners (anticoagulants) — bruising can be heavier, so tell us in advance and we'll plan for it
• Botulinum toxin received elsewhere recently — tell us when, with which product, and how much, and we'll recalculate the total amount given in one session and the interval to your next treatment

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How PECHE Clinic Does It

We look at total amount and interval together. If you're also having facial treatments, we count that amount in, and set the interval to your next session by standards built from over 90,000 treatments.

We offer four botulinum toxin products. Botulinum toxin is a substance produced by bacteria. The bacteria send it out wrapped in other proteins to keep it intact — but only the core inside produces the effect; the wrapping plays no part in it. The core is identical across all four products; what differs is that some products keep the wrapping, and some strip it away to leave only the core.

Product	Made by	Protein wrapping	Albumin (storage aid)
Newlux	Medytox, Korea	Kept	Used
Coretox	Medytox, Korea	Stripped away	Not used
Xeomin	Merz, Germany	Stripped away	Used
Allergan Botox	AbbVie, USA	Kept	Used

What keeping or stripping the wrapping means. The wrapping protects the core — but it also means foreign proteins unrelated to the effect enter your body along with it. Repeated over the years, your body can come to recognize and respond to those proteins — and then the same dose may not work as well as it once did. The difference grows the larger the amount going in at once, and the more years you continue — and body-area treatment is exactly that case. One of the two Korean-made products strips the wrapping and one keeps it, so Korean-made versus imported isn't what divides them.

Albumin is a common protein naturally present in human blood. It keeps the core from degrading while the drug is stored as a dried powder — and Coretox does without it too.

We open the genuine product in front of you — and you can watch it being dissolved through the glass wall, too. Botulinum toxin doesn't keep long once dissolved, so it's stored as a powder and dissolved in saline just before treatment. The more diluted it is, the larger its volume — and the wider it spreads. With the body's larger amounts, what was dissolved and how much matters all the more. You see which product is opened right in front of you, and the dissolving itself is visible through the glass wall from the waiting area.

▲ The prep room, seen through the glass from the waiting area — what 100-plus units are prepared from, and in what amount, is visible through this glass

If fat is the cause, we say so. If the thickness looks much the same whether the muscle is engaged or relaxed, fat plays the larger part. In that case we tell you the range of change this treatment can deliver first, and let you decide. We don't push same-day payment or packages — you're welcome to come in just for a consultation.

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Pricing

Body Botox runs in three unit configurations; the cost varies with the total needed and the product. We confirm the areas and the muscle's condition in your consultation, then give you a quote.

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Location

PECHE Clinic 3F, 364 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Right in front of Gangnam Station, Exit 4

Since this treatment is repeated about every six months, an easy trip here genuinely matters.

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FAQ

Q1. Who performs the treatment? A: PECHE physicians who all work to the same injection standards, built from over 90,000 documented treatments. With the body's larger amounts, the judgment of how much goes where decides the result — so it's made by these standards, not by feel.

Q2. Will it interfere with exercise or daily life? A: For the first 1–2 weeks, your limbs can feel heavy, with less strength than you expect. You adapt gradually and it eases within a month — but if a strength-dependent schedule is coming up, it's better to adjust the timing.

Q3. How much slimmer will my legs get? A: What decreases is the muscle's bulk — so the bigger the difference between your engaged and relaxed thickness, the bigger the change. If fat plays the larger part, reducing the muscle won't change the thickness much, which is why we confirm the cause before starting.

Q4. Is it all right to keep having it, with amounts this large? A: Rather than repeating as soon as the effect thins slightly, we keep an interval of 5–6 months or longer — and if you're having facial treatments too, we plan with that amount counted in.

Q5. What should I look for when choosing a clinic? A: Whether they first tell muscle from fat as the cause, and whether they set one session's total and the next interval together. The body's amounts are large — skip those two, and both the change you wanted and the plan can go off course.