Botox injections may stunt young people's emotional growth

Giving young people Botox injections may restrict their emotional growth, UK experts warn.

Researchers said there is a growing trend for under-25s to seek the wrinkle-smoothing injections.

However, "frozen faces" could stop young people from learning how to express emotions fully, researchers wrote in the Journal of Aesthetic Nursing.

Botox and other versions of the toxin work by temporarily paralysing muscles in the upper face to reduce wrinkling when people frown, 'BBC News' reported.

Helen Collier, nurse practitioner in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, who carried out the research, said reality TV shows and celebrity culture are driving young people to idealise the "inexpressive frozen face."

"As a human being our ability to demonstrate a wide range of emotions is very dependent on facial expressions. Emotions such as empathy and sympathy help us to survive and grow into confident and communicative adults," Collier said.

A "growing generation of blank-faced" young people could be harming their ability to correctly convey their feelings, she said.

"If you wipe those expressions out, this might stunt their emotional and social development," she added.