'Inappropriate' Botox procedures leave young women 'looking older than 40'
(Left to right) Dr Paul Kielty, Dr Mairead Browne and Dr Sarah Kate Quinlivan at the BOTOX demonstration session at the Irish Dentist Association conference in Killarney. Dr Mairead Browne pointed to a surge in interest among young women in having similar appearances to each other, pointing to a trend inspired last year by the hit film Barbie. Photo: Don MacMonagle
Young women are being left looking like they are "in their 40s" with no movement in their face due to inappropriate cosmetic procedures.
There has also been a surge in women as young as their late teens and early 20s demanding 'Barbie-Botox' procedures in an attempt to look like each other. That is according to Dr Mairead Browne, a general dental and aesthetic practitioner based in Cork City.
“I certainly don’t advocate someone 19 or 20 (starting Botox),” she said. “No 19-year-old or 20-year-old needs toxins, and they’re starting to make their face look older. It’s inappropriate treatment.
“That generation now are looking older than people in their 40s because they’ve no movement in their face, no animation, no respecting the natural, youthful movement in the face.”
Dr Browne called for protections for younger customers as she warned against unlicensed practitioners in this area.
During the Irish Dental Association’s annual conference in Killarney, she pointed to a surge in interest among young women in having similar appearances to each other, pointing to a trend inspired last year by the hit film Barbie.
“Last year, I had a huge amount of patients coming into me looking for Barbie-Botox,” she said.
“It’s essentially to elongate your neck; your neck and your shoulder line up looking like Margot Robbie. Basically it’s where we inject toxin into the trapezius, which is a muscle at the top of your shoulder.”
This treatment is used therapeutically for conditions such as frozen shoulder or over-active muscles in pain, she said.
She said:
The term Botox is a brand name for botulinum toxin. Dentists, along with doctors and registered nurses under certain conditions, are the only licensed practitioners in Ireland.
Dr Browne is also concerned about access to dermal fillers with this also widely promoted on social media.
“These are now classified under EU regulations as medical devices, which means they should be administered by appropriately trained healthcare professionals,” she said.
“But because the Patients Safety Licencing Bill hasn’t been brought to the Dáil, there is no accountability. They just get a slap on the wrist but if dermal fillers go wrong, they can cause blindness.”
