*Botox, one of America’s most commonly used drugs, turned 15-years-old this April. And while the drug is getting older, its users are getting younger.
Botox is a strain of the neurotoxin botulinum toxin, and it’s famously used by many celebrities to reduce wrinkles, sagging skin, and other signs of aging. But while this is the stereotypical use for Botox, it’s actually used for a host of different medical problems — treating overactive sweating, preventing migraines, and controlling involuntary muscle spasms. Botox works by paralyzing facial muscles, and its effects last up to six months. Despite its many medical uses, Botox is still most popular as a cosmetic procedure that helps eliminate wrinkles, crows feet, and laugh lines.
For the past decade and a half, women 35 years and older have been the primary users of Botox, often at med spas or dermatology clinics. However, according to the International Spa Association, 56% of millennials have visited a spa within the last year. And thanks in part to a surge of interest from image-conscious millennials, the U.S. spa industry is now worth $16.3 billion. In keeping with that trend, more and more young people are receiving Botox treatments.
However, instead of eliminating wrinkles and other signs of premature aging, these millennials are heading to spas and plastic surgeons nationwide as a way to prevent the first signs of aging.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than 100,000 millennials got Botox in 2015. Additionally, there was a 2% increase in Botox treatments for teenagers between 2014 and 2015. Considering that the average cost of injections is $380, although it can go up to $900 or more, this is an interesting trend for a demographic struggling with record amounts of extreme debt.
For perspective, Botox brought in $2.8 million in global sales in 2016. This even surpassed the world’s previous number one selling drug, Viagra.
Some doctors believe this trend started with millennial’s parents. Dr. Arthur Perry, a plastic surgeon in New York, explains to the Indy Star that after seeing such success with their parents, millennials may have been prompted by biology to turn to Botox.
Perry explains that up until the age of 20, skin thickens as we mature due to increased collagen production. Between 20 and 30, this production stops and our facial skin enters into a holding pattern, meaning a couple wrinkles form but the skin doesn’t thicken and remove them naturally. And after 30-years-old, our facial skin loses about 1% of its thickness every year as these wrinkles deepen and spread. Thus, the sudden interest in Botox.
So why are millennials so eager to stop wrinkles before they form? While their parents may have been inspired by celebrities like Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, or Simon Cowell, younger patients have a different motivation.
“They’re millennials, and they’re influenced more by social media than by celebrities,” Dr. Matthew Schulman, a plastic surgeon in Manhattan, told The New York Post.
Rather than getting inspiration from celebrities to experiment with this face-changing drug, young people are thinking instead of their social media followers. With the rise of quote en quote “selfie culture” going mainstream, doctors like Shulman have been noticing a constant stream of millennials flocking to their offices in search of the perfect social media post.
So, gone are the days when patients have to settle with the appearances they were born with, and in are the days when an Instagram or Snapchat filter can become real life.
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