Sharp increase in Dutch young people going for botox treatments

The number of Netherlands residents between the ages of 18 and 25 who had cosmetic procedures performed on them more than doubled over the past decade, according to a study by Erasmus MC led by cosmetic doctor Tom Decates. Botox against wrinkles and fillers for fuller lips are particularly popular, Decates said to newspaper AD.

In 2008, 3.1 percent of young people in the 18 to 25 age group were treated with Botox or fillers. Ten years later, that increased to 8 percent. Decates called the increase "striking, because it concerns a vulnerable age group." According to him young people are "easy to influence and manipulate" via social media. "The youth drive themselves crazy with videos of 'perfect' girls like Kylie Jenner. Young girls have to realize that what they have is very beautiful," he said to the newspaper.

According to Decates, the risk is that young people end up with unqualified persons when going for such treatments. There is a proliferation of unprofessional businesses," he said. He noticed that he is seeing more and more people at his consultation hours for complications. "We are seeing an increase in young girls where the lips have been injected with fillers and where the blood vessel was accidentally blocked, causing the lip to die," Decates said. 

According to Erasmus MC, around 400 thousand cosmetic procedures were performed in the Netherlands in 2018, including about 250 thousand Botox treatments and approximately 140 thousand treatments with fillers.