• Dr. Michael Massie

Start Anti-Aging with Botox®

People frequently ask me about starting Botox® at different ages. What’s the right age to start doing it preventatively? Is there an age where, if you haven’t used it yet, it’s too late?

People frequently ask me about starting botox at different ages. What’s the right age to start doing it preventatively? Is there an age where, if you haven’t used it yet, it’s too late? While there might not be clear, straightforward answers to these questions, I’d like to try to discuss the thought process of starting Botox® to give you some information to make your decision on when is the right time for you to start.

Botox® is a neuromodulator whose primary purpose is to decrease facial movements by blocking signals between the nerves the muscles.

It’s these facial movements, like squinting, scowling or raising our eyebrows, that create the unwanted wrinkles on our foreheads and around our eyes. By decreasing these movements, we can minimize these “dynamic lines”.

In younger adults, before the lines have formed, we can use botox to prevent them from coming at all. Small regular doses, given in properly targeted injections by a trained practitioner, can delay facial ageing better than any cream or spa treatment. I have many patients in their 20s who do regular botox treatments, and I know down the road when I see them years from now, they’ll have far less facial lines than the patients who don’t.

So, too early, isn’t a problem, (I suppose your ten years old can wait though, she doesn’t need to look 8) but can you have waited too long? Once we’ve, let's call it “gained enough life experience”, there can be deep lines on our face that even stay present without facial movements. These “resting lines” used to be dynamic lines once upon a time, but now stay even when the movements stop. So, botox can’t magically wipe these away. That’s not to say it can’t help, though. With repeated treatments to maintain decreased movements and good regenerative skincare, we can heal and soften these resting lines, even if we can’t entirely eliminate them.

The key is to think of the different goals and outcomes at different ages and see if those match your expectations. Young adults, particularly if they have a family history of early facial ageing, can start the earlier, the better. The doses will be small, but the consistency will be essential to prevent and control ageing. Whereas, for those thinking of starting a few decades later in life, there are benefits to be had at 40, 50, 60 or whenever, but different targets are set, and various benefits are gained. Lines can be softened, even if not entirely erased, and the deepening that would have continued can also be halted.

Whatever your age and whatever your goals of treatment are, the best plan is always to come by for an assessment and discussion. Book a free consultation with me at Rejuvenation and bring all your questions.