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During a conversation with a 26-year-old lady last weekend, I mentioned my profession (including my web writing for plastic surgeons) and she said, “I don’t think I’ll ever need cosmetic surgery… but maybe I’ll get Botox when I’m older.”

I wondered when exactly she would decide she was “old enough” for Botox.

That perfect age probably comes when you have disposable income and those frown lines start to become very prominent – though surely there are exceptions to that rule. According to Bay Area plastic surgeon Sirish Maddali, “many patients understand that using Botox at a younger age can be preventative and therefore start earlier.”

How many young people decide to take these early steps to preserve their appearance? Lets look at some 2008 statistics from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery:

2,464,123 Botox treatments were performed

• 0.3 percent of patients were 18 and under
• 15.4 percent of patients were 19-34 (379,582 procedures)
• 49.1 percent of patients were 35-50
• 27.3 percent of patients were 51-64
• 7.9 percent of patients were over 65

Draw your own conclusions about these stats, but the number of treatments chosen by people under 35 is undeniably large.  Are you in that age group and have you undergone a Botox treatment?  Tell us about your experience.