Michele Deutsch, 50, has been getting Botox for 10 years, but she regrets not starting it sooner.
"I realized, you know what, it's time to be more preventative with this, more proactive in taking care of it and really keeping up with it," Deutsch said.
Dermatologist Dr. Steven Grekin says it's not a bad thing to start Botox early and sees patients in their late 20s and 30s coming into The Grekin Skin Institute wanting to get Botox.
"The trend now is to start younger so you don't even start to see these lines and there is real science behind doing it this way," Grekin said. "Skin that is relaxed actually produces extra collagen. So when you Botox these 11s, or the forehead lines, or even the smile lines, that skin stays younger, fresher longer."
Ha Nguyen, 30, started Botox treatments and is only in her early thirties because she noticed a little line between her eyes.
"I wanted to do Botox to help straighten that out and kind of smooth out that area," Ha Nguyen said. "For me to get Botox it's more to prevent the wrinkles from coming in before it even starts."
"Basically what you're doing is disrupting the connection from these fine muscles to the skin surface. There really is no reason to have that connection and that does accentuate the look of aging, so when we get rid of that connection the skin drapes naturally over the structures," Grekin said.
Grekin said patients are also considering fillers to look younger longer.
"The Restylane, Juvederm, Voluma, Enhance, Refine, Define, all the hyaluronic acid products that fill our skin actually help replace volume. Younger appearing people have more volume," Grekin said. "If you keep that younger fullness with fillers, when you start off younger, you actually prevent aging."
A good rule of thumb when deciding whether to get Botox is when the lines that you have with movement start to stay at rest, it's a good time to go to a board-certified dermatologist and start the conversation.
There are no conclusive studies showing Botox is more beneficial when starting younger or less beneficial when using it later in life. Botox therapy can be dangerous if given incorrectly. Only get Botox under a doctor's care.
According to the Mayo Clinic, it must be placed precisely to avoid side effects like pain, swelling or bruising, headaches, droopy eyelids or cockeyed eyebrows, a crooked smile or drooling.
