Why Some People Get "Addicted" to Botox and Filler

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The Endless Cycle of Getting Tweakments

Once upon a time, Botox and fillers were mostly for the rich and famous. But if you’ve seen “watch me get addicted to filler” videos on TikTok (or spent any time on social media), it’s clear that’s changed. These non-surgical cosmetic treatments — or tweakments — come with an unwanted side effect: Finding it hard to stop once you start. In part because most injectables are temporary, and maintaining a certain look requires top-ups, says Ann Kearney-Cooke, PhD, a licensed psychologist.

So once you start changing your face, can you ever stop, physically and mentally?

Your risk factors for getting hooked

Many people have a healthy relationship with these procedures. For others, the satisfaction period is short-lived — triggering a domino effect of more tweakments, says board-certified plastic surgeon Lara Devgan, MD. But your risk factor depends on a couple things:

• Your mental health. Some studies have found a correlation between body dysmorphic disorder and cosmetic procedures. And having a negative body image can make you vulnerable to “perception drift,” even after procedures, says Devgan. 

• Technology. A constant stream of Photoshopped and filtered faces online, plus the hours spent staring at our faces in Zoom meetings only amplifies perceived flaws.

Your move

• Assess your ‘why’ for getting work done. People who treat tweakments as occasional enhancements rather than necessities are “more likely to maintain control over their use,” says Devgan.  

• Get treated by a board-certified provider. And if they tell you no to more procedures, consider that a green flag — they should be looking out for you.

• Take before and after photos. So you can “trace your cosmetic journey,” says Evan Rieder, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and psychiatrist.

• Talk to a mental health professional. Such as someone who specializes in compulsive behavior or body dysmorphia.

Read more about tweakment “addiction."

We asked you to vote on a question you’d like answered. The winner was:

I’m always breathless climbing stairs. Is that normal?

FEATURED EXPERT:

Catherine Myers, MD

A pulmonologist with the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute

“If you're climbing more than two or three flights of stairs, it's pretty normal to get temporarily short of breath, but you should recover pretty quickly. You [breathe heavily] to deliver more oxygen to your tissues because you're using more of your body,” says Myers. 

But if “going up two flights of stairs has never been a problem for you before, and suddenly it’s causing you breathing issues,” it may be a sign of something else like asthma, different types of lung disease, or heart issues.

PS: Want to make climbing stairs less exhausting? Here’s what to do.

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This week, Skimm Well editor Maria McCallen tested out the viral mouth-taping trend.

What we tried: VIO2 Mouth Tape

What it'll cost you: $24.95 for 48 pieces, or $22.95 for a monthly or 40-day subscription.

What we think: 6/10. While the mouth tape didn’t help me stay asleep all night (a common issue for me), it didn’t interrupt my sleep either. I noticed that I dreamt more while using it — which usually indicates good sleep. It was also comfortable, lightweight, and didn’t cause any skin reactions. But it did peel off my face in the middle of the night. It didn’t turn out to be the end-all, be-all sleep hack TikTok makes it out to be, but I’m not mad that I tested it out.

“Eyes open”

A new way to meditate, according to Gwyneth Paltrow. If you need us, we'll be "meditating" in front of our TVs.