How Soon Is Too Soon for Preventative Botox?
The phrase “preventative Botox” has been floating around for almost as long as the muscle-freezing injectable itself. And yet, the answer to whether you can halt furrowed brows and crow’s-feet before they’ve actually happened remains largely shrouded in confusion.
Practically speaking, of course, the idea makes sense: If you can limit the repetitive gestures that eventually cause wrinkles, you might not get them in the first place. But is there any truth to the preemptive strike theory—and if so, how soon is too soon to start?
The answer, it turns out, isn’t black and white. Mary Lupo, M.D., is a firm believer in what she refers to as the “stitch in time saves nine” theory, by which early, proactive efforts reduce the need for more invasive procedures later. According to the New Orleans–based dermatologist, if you’re as young as 24 “with finely etched lines—even when you’re skin is relaxed,” you’re a candidate.
At her New York City practice, Patricia Wexler, M.D., receives a steady stream of inquiries on the subject. She agrees that neurotoxin injections, administered at the first signs of visible wrinkles, “can certainly stop the clock, and the frequency and dose will be lower if you begin [using it] when you begin seeing evidence of damage.” But starting too early, she adds, can have its own set of drawbacks. “I have women that don’t have any lines coming in and asking for Botox in their forehead and their crow’s-feet because they don’t want to get any,” she says, warning: “If you don’t see any lines when your face is at rest, then doing Botox is not preventative. It’s presumptive.”
A youthful face, after all, is one that moves, and an overly stiff forehead or expressionless smile tends to register, however subtly, as off. In fact, “a lot of times, you see people who started getting Botox when they were young begin to look older [faster],” says New York dermatologist Fredric Brandt, M.D. While he supports using the neurotoxin as a way to limit certain habitual tendencies that could lead to more visible lines-“it can break the habit of frowning, which will prevent them from getting deeper, which will have a long term effect”- he prefers to send away patients who prematurely request Botox with a prescription of peptide creams for day, retinols at night, and a friendly dose of perspective.
Vocabulary Words:
1. Shrouded - noun) a thing that covers, surrounds or hides something
2. (in) Black and white (idiom) in a way that makes people or things seem completely bad or good, or completely right or wrong
3. Stitch in time saves nine - (idiom) it is better to deal with something immediately because if you wait it may become worse or more difficult and cause extra work
4. Neurotoxin - (noun) a poison that affects the nervous system
5. Presumptive - (adj) likely to be true, based on the facts that are available
Discussion Questions:
1. What are your views on Botox and plastic surgery? Are you against it or do you support it? Why?
2. How "normal" is plastic surgery in South Korea?
3. Do you think people should have cosmetic surgery to enhance their looks?
4. If so what is the minimum age when someone should have plastic surgery
5.What sorts of things affect our perception of beauty? What causes us to think that a certain thing is “beautiful”??
