BOTOX reaching younger generation, treating more than just wrinkles

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- BOTOX has been around about 15 years, and the procedure is now reaching more young people.

When 25-year-old Giovanni Hardrick left his job at a bank to take a job at Carbon World Health Spa in Madison he was completely against the procedure.

“I was scared,” Hardrick said. “I didn't know what the results were going to be. I was like what if my face is going to look completely different?”

After some convincing, he decided to give it a try. He says the procedure that involves needle injections “tickles and feels weird.”

“When I do express myself now, I don’t see those lines,” he said.

BOTOX is a toxin that is injected into the skin to temporarily relax muscles. What was once thought to be a wrinkle treatment for just older, wealthy, women is now attracting more and more young people and people of all races. According to American Society for Aesthetic Plastic surgery, in 2016 nearly 60 percent of injections were performed on people under 50.

“We get a lot of Instagram models or Facebook and that's where millennials are like ‘what are these people doing?’ and they're saying ‘if they do it we can do it also,” Dr. Nestor Rodriguez, World Health Spa Medical Director, said.

Dr. Rodriguez has been administering BOTOX in Los Angeles and Wisconsin for more than six years. He says while society is becoming more accepting of the treatment, not everyone is open to getting the procedure.

“Still in Wisconsin, there's an ‘I do it, I just don't want to share with the world that I do it,’” Dr. Rodriguez said.

He administers BOTOX to not only prevent and treat wrinkles but also to help reduce sweating.

BOTOX is now also used to help people with depression or severe migraine headaches.

“It decreases the signaling from the nerves,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “Then the actual symptoms of the pain, nausea all get minimized or prevented completely.”

BOTOX injections only take minutes to administer, but the results aren't permanent or immediate. It takes about 3-5 days to see the effects, and the procedure has to be repeated about every 3-4 months.

Dr. Rodriguez says the procedures for wrinkles are rarely covered by insurance. He says it costs anywhere from $10-$16 dollars per unit of BOTOX. One treatment can use several units. Despite the price, he says the procedure is wildly popular.

“It is the #1 growing across the U.S. and I would argue the world because people don't want surgery anymore,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “They want the smaller treatments.”

“It’s a quick fix if you don’t want something there,” Hardrick said.

Dr. Rodriguez says BOTOX procedures are not for everyone including pregnant women or people with neurological conditions.

There are also some side effects including possible bruising, stinging, or trouble breathing.

For more information about BOTOX from the FDA, please click here.