Is there a right time to get facial aesthetic treatments?

This is a question I have heard so many times over the years and it’s something a lot of people want to know. So let’s cut straight to the chase. As with most things in life, there is rarely a right time to do anything. There is no right time to own a house, to get married, to have children. The right time is the time that you see fit [and of course, as with all the above – it may be something that you never want to explore and that in itself is also perfectly fine!] In the facial aesthetics industry, there is a huge buzz around ‘prevention’. However, I am not a doctor that hugely believes in preventative treatments and I will certainly not eliminate every line on your face, especially when the lines don’t even exist yet..!

Lines, expression, character – these are all elements that are individual to us and I believe we shouldn’t conform to the Instagram silhouette of zero facial expression, huge Russian lips and pointy chins.

Botulinum toxin aka brand names Botox, Azzalure or Bocouture in the UK is a prescription only medicine (POM). This means that it needs to be prescribed by a doctor or nurse prescriber AFTER a compulsory face-to-face consultation has deemed it to be clinically necessary. On the 29th April 2021 we also hit a campaign victory as it became illegal to perform cosmetic injectable treatments on anyone under 18. Hallelujah! As aesthetics is still largely unregulated, this is a small step in the right direction.

Given this, all toxin and filler treatments performed by myself are only done so when I see a clinical indication to do so and providing it is in the best interests of the client (who in my clinic must be at least 21 years old). I would personally only inject toxin when I see lines that concern the patient rather than ‘preventatively’ injecting when there are no lines yet formed. The same goes for filler – unless there is visible volume loss or a potential to enhance volume that could have been there, I would not inject. Each client is an individual and should be assessed on a case by case basis. I have seen 25 year olds with more developed lines than 60 year olds, which demonstrates an indication to treat the 25 year old and not the 60 year old!

To conclude, I’m sure you can now see that as long a patient is over 18 (or over 21 in my clinic), there is no ‘right time’ that people should fixate on when it comes to getting facial aesthetic treatments. It is all dictated by the clinical indication and this should be assessed fully by a medical professional.