By: Susan Stuart, MD

Just recently a mom in the United Kingdom bought a series of BOTOX® Cosmetic injections for her teenage daughter. Some people might just dismiss this as a “fluke,” but the reality is that more and more teens are looking into plastic surgery and nonsurgical facial rejuvenation treatments like San Diego BOTOX Cosmetic to change how they look … sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for less healthy ones.

The mother who bought the injections for her teen said that she was concerned that her daughter demonstrated a family tendency to develop significant frown lines very early. I haven’t examined the young woman, but I do treat a number of teens for problems like acne and rashes at my San Diego facial rejuvenation center. In my experience, early development of “frown lines” has more to do with sun exposure, poor diet, or misuse of skin care products, and very little to do with genetics or with muscle contraction – the problem that BOTOX corrects.

In some cases, even younger patients have damaged their skin in ways that give it an older appearance and will need treatments like Fraxel® facial rejuvenation to kick-start their skin into maintaining itself better. But only in rare cases is muscle contraction the real source of the problem.

Parting thought: BOTOX® Cosmetic is the gold standard in reducing dynamic wrinkles for good reason – it works. But just because it reduces one type of wrinkle very effectively doesn’t mean it’s the best or the right choice in every case, and especially for someone so young.

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• More information on San Diego BOTOX treatments