'Fillers can cause more harm than Botox': Why younger patients risk long-term damage

In a new movie, Demi Moore plays a woman who undergoes radical rejuvenation to keep her job. But it’s not only older women who feel pressured to look young — doctors warn that younger women are also resorting to Botox and fillers, which can lead to long-term damage

Botox — anti-wrinkle injections — is a medical procedure, not a facial, and risks need to be explained to patients

Hitting cinema screens today, The Substance features Demi Moore playing a 50-year-old celebrity suddenly fired from her job as the star of a TV fitness show. When offered a cell-replicating substance that promises a younger, better version of herself, she goes for it.

The movie puts a spotlight on our youth-obsessed culture, on our fixation with achieving unrealistic beauty standards — earlier this year, the global aesthetics industry was estimated to be worth €54bn. Here too the industry is booming, with record numbers looking for cosmetic treatments.