When Do I Start Botox?

There has been a trend in the past couple of years for young women to seek BOTOX® as a preventative measure against aging and wrinkles. If you ask doctors, they will vary in their opinions not only about the wisdom of this, but even if it works. Between 2008 and 2010, the use of BOTOX® has increased more than 11% among teens! And 14% percent of BOTOX® patients were between 19 and 34 years old in the United States. This trend seems to be increasing too. Obviously there has not been time to conduct studies about the effects using BOTOX® long term, however some people believe that you can prevent “wrinkles at rest” or static wrinkles by nipping them in the bud. Yet other experts say BOTOX® loses its effectiveness over time. But is getting BOTOX® injections at dynamic wrinkle sites in order to prevent static wrinkles from forming wise?

You may remember, if you have been reading my earlier blog entries, that dynamic wrinkles are the lines that form on your face when your face expresses emotion. They appear when you smile, laugh, cry, frown, they convey emotion. Even toddlers have dynamic wrinkles, in the sense that when their face contorts lines form. Everyone’s face creases when they express themselves. As time goes on, however, dynamic wrinkles remain and become static, because the collagen beneath them breaks down from the movement. Younger and younger women are attempting to stop this from happening by using BOTOX®, which relaxes the muscles so that the lines cannot be made. The rational for this is that static wrinkles or “lines at rest” will never form. But this logic is a little odd. You do not start using a drug until you need it, and that’s what BOTOX® is, a drug. Teenagers are still developing, physically as well as emotionally, and in your 20s, you’re supposed to be having wholesome fun, not worrying about wrinkles! Many experts worry that teenagers and 20-somethings are using BOTOX® to compensate for bad habits such as smoking or drinking. Our faces convey the emotions that help us connect with other people. When you get those lines at rest is when you should actually get BOTOX® injections. The only reason to start with BOTOX® treatments is to alleviate lines when they form, and in most people, that is in their 30s. You turn to a drug when the symptom or condition occurs.

So here are a few tips until then. When you are in your teenage years, get lots of sleep, wear your sunscreen, use self tanner rather than tanning in the sun, and don’t smoke. Those are the things that really cause wrinkles. When you are in your 20s you might want to work on your skin, especially if you have acne scarring, but even if you don’t there is nothing wrong with say, microdermabrasion to smooth your skin surface if it is actually needed. It is in your 30s that those static wrinkles or “lines at rest” really start to appear on the forehead or as crow’s feet. Now if you used your sunscreen, didn’t smoke or tan, and took care wearing sunglasses for instance, the lines will be minimal. Much of aging depends on genetics; each individual is different. By your mid to late 30s, these wrinkles are not very deep, so BOTOX® can relax the muscles to stop the lines from forming or deepening without sacrificing its effectiveness because you have built up a resistance to the drug. At Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery Center, BOTOX® is begun when those lines at rest show up. You can trust that I will not perform procedures you don’t need.

Call Melinda at the front desk to set up your consultation with me. 501-277-0707