Demand for back-to-school Botox rising for some moms
For 37-year-old mom of two Jaclyn Walker, back-to-school routines have come back into full swing.
But Walker has another routine timed to the new school year: Botox.
"For me… I want to make my daughters proud of me. I want them to be happy [and think] that my mom, she looks so pretty," Walker told "Nightline."
And she's not alone as plastic surgeons said they have seen a rise in women getting Botox as the school season starts.
"Well, we want to look good on the mom line," Walker said. "When I show up on the school line, I want to be a pretty mom…My hair will be done and my Botox will be tight."
Walker said she started the procedures, which cost her $200 to $400 per session, because they gave her more confidence after she noticed more creases and lines on her face and didn’t feel her makeup wasn't going on smoothly.
"It was like having an Instagram filter without an Instagram filter. And I was like, Wow, this is incredible. Why did I wait so long?" she said.
Walker is one of many people around the country who regularly get Botox.
In the U.S., people spend $2 billion a year on Botox and there are as many as 7 billion Botox procedures annually, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Although Botox is growing in popularity, it is not the norm.
In fact, only about 1% of the U.S. population got Botox in 2020, and 82% of patients who underwent the procedure were white, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons said.
"Botox and injectable fillers have really become part of a regular beauty ritual for people," Dr. Brian Glatt, a board-certified plastic surgeon, told "Nightline."
Glatt said he’s noticed Botox has become popular with parents as this school year begins.
Several med spas and clinics have been offering back-to-school discounts that offer the procedure as low as $9 per unit of Botox, which is relatively low.
Botox is measured and sold in units. It typically costs anywhere from $10 to $15 per unit according to the American Society for Plastic Surgeons.
Glatt warned that the procedure should not be taken lightly and patients should be cautious about deals that appear too good to be true.
Side effects of the cosmetic procedure include double vision, and trouble saying words, or swallowing, according to the FDA.
"They’re medical procedures, and they need to be treated as such," Glatt said.
Walker said that she knows that Botox will only take her so far, and that while we live in a world where beauty matters, it’s not number one.
"Eventually, I don't think Botox is always going to work. I'm going to have to accept it. So I'll embrace it when it comes," she said.
