Botox – How Young is too Young?

A Blog on Recommended Age for Botox by Dr. Loftus

How young is too young for Botox? The answer to this question depends on why someone is having Botox. There was a lot of attention to the subject when a mother injected her 8-year-old daughter with Botox to improve some supposed wrinkles for a children’s beauty pageant. YIKES! We found this shocking and concerning. First, an 8 year old does not have wrinkles worth treating. Second, children are in the process of developing their body image and self-esteem. Being caught up in looking for flaws to "fix" at that stage of development cannot be helpful (I am not a child psychiatrist, however). Third, the mother did not have the training or licensure to perform the procedure, which increases the risk of something going wrong. Botox injections are very safe when the injector knows what they are doing. Working in a doctor’s office and seeing someone else inject Botox does not count! You must be a physician to inject Botox in many states. Some states allow nurses or physician’s assistants to inject it under physician supervision.

Botox is used to treat muscle spasms resulting from medical conditions in children and adults. This was the originally described purpose of the medication and it is very effective. Technically, you must be 18 to receive Botox injections for purely cosmetic reasons. It is rare for anyone that young to seek out Botox. There is a growing trend for people to begin using Botox in their 20’s and 30’s before any significant wrinkle formation to reduce the formation of wrinkles and creases resulting from facial muscle contractions. People in their 20's, who benefit most from Botox are those who tend to scowl and who feel that their scowl lines make them look angry. Botox not only fixes this problem, but it helps these people train themselves to not scowl at an early age. Another location for young adults is the scowl lines below the corners of the mouth. Each of these areas are reasonable for young adults.