But if you’re expecting Botox to stop the aging process, you’ll be disappointed. Getting Botox in your 20s will not be — we repeat, I will not— Stop aging, says Dr. Hirsch. “When I see someone who’s 23 years old and says, ‘Oh, I never want to get wrinkles,’ I have to be honest, my office doesn’t schedule them, because it’s just pointless,” she says. Allure. “I’m never going to make someone happy whose goal is not to wrinkle. This is an achievement I cannot guarantee. In fact, I can only guarantee that I slope Do it.”
Neurotoxins are not designed to prevent every facet, and I have the nasolabial lines to prove it. Furthermore, the expression lines they target are just one manifestation of aging. The drug does nothing for the other inevitable (and often more obvious) signs, such as hyperpigmentation, puffiness, and sagging. That’s why preventive Botox is almost never done in isolation, notes Dr. Hirsch, but in combination with lasers (which eliminate redness and brown spots) and other cosmetic treatments, such as brightening chemical peels and bulking fillers. All of this is pretty useless if you don’t protect your skin from the sun.
Besides wrinkles, there’s another aspect of prevention to consider with Botox: treatments that “make us feel more comfortable and more confident,” says Dr. Sarkar. Using toxin to prevent painful clenching of teeth and TMJ, to neutralize “frowning” and rubbish that miscommunicates how we feel, to relax tight muscles that promote poor posture, to quell the stress-induced sweating under the breasts or along the hairline—those versions of preventative Botox, he says, “are 100% worth it.”
When is the right time to start Botox?
This is where things diverge a bit. There are two main schools of thought regarding the ideal age to start preventive Botox. While some doctors insist on prescribing it before expression lines form, others like to wait until there is a hint of an actual line at rest (when the face is relaxed). The difference: The first group aims to delay the initial appearance of fine lines. the second tries to stop the deterioration of the earlier, weaker lines.
Doctors in the former camp (those who inject without a liner) will look to see where muscle activity affects the skin in an obvious or disproportionate way by observing patients in casual conversation and also by having them frown, smile widely, pout and raise their eyebrows on command. They will then lightly Botox any dynamic expression lines, which could imprint on the skin over time, and become static wrinkles if left unchecked.
Since we all wrinkle differently—based on our skin’s genetic makeup, sun exposure history, and other factors—there really isn’t a “best” age to intervene. You just have to “start before the skin gets wrinkled,” according to Jason Bloom, MD, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. In his opinion, “once you draw lines, it’s kind of late” for preventive toxin. Which doesn’t mean those furrows are forever: If used consistently, Botox can reverse a crease that isn’t too deep, he says. More established or consolidated wrinkles usually do not disappear with Botox alone. Clearing them often requires filler injections and/or micro-acupuncture or energy treatments in addition to the toxin.
