I am a great fan of Botox and when given to the right patient, in the right position, at the right dose. it can produce amazing results. However, I came across this short article with regards to Botox in the young and it really resonated with me – Botox for wrinkle protection: Sense or nonsense?

The issue of performing anti-ageing aesthetic treatments on younger patients tends to crop up time and again as young people do turn up at clinic requesting such treatments. People do this for a variety of reasons but the underlying driver is that youthfulness is cherished and celebrated by society generally.

There is clearly no ‘correct’ position to adopt on this matter. Some clinicians do believe that early use of Botox can indeed prevent or at least delay the onset of wrinkles. Others would carry out the treatment on young people because they believe that individuals do have a right to have access to the treatment if that is what they want. Yet others will rationalise that the patients will have no trouble finding someone else to provide the treatment so it may as well be them etc (and I do believe that there’s no shortage of folks who offer just about any treatment as long as the patients/clients are willing and able to pay).

Like the author of the article, I view Botox as a treatment and until we have research evidence to prove that it could and should be used preventatively, I will only use it on patients who have wrinkles to be treated. It’s a pragmatic decision as it helps take away dilemmas around age cut-off, frequency of treatments and the dosage to use.

Regarding the rationalisation that ‘someone else will do it’, I often repeat to myself, “let someone else do it”.

Source: Consulting Room