Botulinum toxin injections could stunt emotional growth in young people, study published in JAN warns

A study published in the Journal of Aesthetic Nursing has warned that treating young people with botulinum toxin could severely affect their emotional growth.

The paper was written by aesthetic practitioner and nurse prescriber Helena Collier, who will be presenting her findings at the CCR Expo this month. According to her data, there has been a 10% rise in girls in their late teens and early twenties getting botulinum toxin injections for cosmetic reasons.

She commented, “The inappropriate and often unethical use of botulinum toxin in teenagers and young adults can have significant and long lasting effects on their emotional growth. As human beings, our ability to demonstrate a wide range of emotions is very dependent on facial expressions. Emotions such as empathy and sympathy help us to survive and grow into confident and communicative adults. Only fully expressive teens are able to provide and receive emotional feedback and ‘mirroring’ – which reassures speakers and listeners that they are being understood or disagreed with, a huge part of growing up. Removing the ability of the face to express these emotions can seriously affect the ability of patients to develop into maturity.

“There is no definitive chronological age to start treatment with botulinum toxin treatment, but the issue of stunting emotional growth in adolescents and young adults needs to be seriously addressed, before the world becomes populated by not just expressionless but immature or depressed adults. This disturbing trend has continued to grow since my original findings and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”