I remember when Botox and fillers started becoming popular in my late 30s.

To be honest, they always struck me as an odd thing to do to your face.

Why would you want to freeze muscles?

When you don’t use muscle, it atrophies and droops.

A few months ago, an Estee Lauder executive suffered a pulmonary embolism that was triggered by cosmetic fillers.  

He passed away.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that Botox carries a black box warning.

Many women assume Botox is essentially risk-free because it's become so normalized as a beauty treatment when it’s a medical treatment. 

It is a prescription neurotoxin with the FDA's highest level of safety warning. 

Even if serious complications are uncommon with cosmetic doses, informed consent means understanding both the benefits and the risks.

It states that effects of the toxin may spread beyond the injection site and can cause serious symptoms, including difficulty breathing and death.

It can bioaccumulate in the brain.

These are some of the other side effects:

Bruising

Headache

Eyelid drooping

Uneven smile

Facial asymmetry

Difficulty swallowing 

Muscle weakness

Toxin spread beyond injection site 

Muscle atrophy with repeated use 

Functional MRI studies have found changes in activity in brain regions involved in emotion processing after cosmetic Botox injections. 

It isn't that Botox is poisoning the brain, but rather that preventing facial expressions changes the sensory feedback the brain receives.

Plastic surgeons are now saying that filler migrates to other areas of the face and neck.

When it does, it may block the lymphatic system.

This is the body's sewer system that carries waste out of the brain and face.

When it’s unable to move, it backs up, causing puffiness.

For years, it's been said you can dissolve filler when you don’t want it anymore.

That simply isn’t true.

Common hyaluronic acid fillers are water-loving. 

They absorb and bind surrounding moisture, which can sometimes lead to localized swelling, fluid retention, or delayed puffiness weeks or months later.

It’s a foreign substance that your body has to deal with.

Fillers also carry documented risks, including vascular occlusion, tissue necrosis, blindness, migration, chronic inflammation, and delayed immune reactions.

What I’ve noticed is that women are often the experiment.

We’re the guinea pigs for new drugs and procedures.

We’re told it’s safe and effective without being given informed consent.

What the medical and wellness industries do well is sell women fear.

Fear of your body, fear of aging, fear of not keeping up with the latest trends.

Botox and filler are sold as “preventative” to aging.

We’re seeing women in their 20s using it to get ahead of the aging process.

With the rise of social media, we live in an age of filters and photoshopped images.

Women chase an aesthetic that it’s even real.

As AI takes hold, there’s a whole new industry popping up of completely manufactured fake people that you can aspire to look like.

What I’m seeing as the next trend is facelifts.

Women who’ve used Botox are now dealing with drooping eyelids and facial muscles that have atrophied.

The same plastic surgeons who sold you the Botox are now selling you the facelift.

I heard a podcast recently that you should start with small nips and tucks in your 30s so it’s so undetectable that your friends and family won’t notice.

I read recently that modeling agencies are now desperate to find women who haven’t had any Botox, filler, or facelifts.

It makes me wonder if the pendulum is really swinging back to a more natural look.

Or, with the rise of AI, are we going to be sold an even more unrealistic aesthetic of how our faces and bodies should look?

I continue to see women of all ages in the Pilates studio who, in my opinion, are dangerously thin from GLP-1 drugs.

This also impacts their face as they lose muscle.

The reality is you can’t outrun poor nutrition and lifestyle choices with cosmetic procedures.

The best long term anti aging strategy is to control your metabolic health.

Meaning your glucose levels - how well you handle sugar.

High blood glucose stiffens the elastin tissue in your face.

It weakens the collagen in your skin.

It does the same thing to your arteries, which also rely on elasticity and flexibility to properly perform.

Eating whole real food, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, and having quality relationships are all key to how you look.

I'd love to know what you think about the business of anti-aging.