July 21, 2010

Is 18-year Old Charice Getting Botoxed for Television Appearance?

18-year-old Filipino singer Charice first became known to America when she appeared on Ellen, after becoming a YouTube sensation. Since then she has also appeared on Oprah and is preparing to make an appearance on the hit television series Glee at the end of the month. In addition to practicing her singing, Charice is also reportedly undergoing Botox as well as Thermage.

At 18, Charice already looks younger than her age and does not have a need for the Botox and Thermage anti aging procedures she is reported to have gotten.

The Associated Press reports, “Charice Pempengco says she prepared for her debut on the hit TV show “Glee” by getting Botox and an anti-aging procedure “to look fresh on camera.”

“The 18-year-old Charice, whose singing career rocketed after appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’ and Oprah Winfrey’s talk shows, underwent a 30-minute Thermage skin-tightening procedure and Botox to make her “naturally round face” more narrow, celebrity cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo told ABS-CBN television.”

“Charice, in the same interview, said last week’s face makeover was part of her big preparations for her appearance on the hit show’s second season. She starts filming at the end of this month.”

“All people will be anticipating how will Charice look? Is she good enough to pit against Rachel Berry? So of course there is tremendous pressure,” Charice said.

“It’s really a blessing,” she said, adding she was “very proud to be an Asian, very proud to be Filipino.”

Since this story hit, her publicist has acknowledged that Charice has had Botox injections, but denies it was to narrow her face. Instead, the spokesperson tells UsWeekly that the injections were to treat a jaw problem:

“The point of the procedure was “to relieve a jaw problem similar to Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ). It did not hurt; it relieved the pain. You’ve seen her face - she doesn’t have a wrinkle in it so she wouldn’t need it for cosmetic purposes. The Glee people are thrilled with the way she looks which is why she got the part.”

In reference to getting Botox for her jaw, Dr. Alexander Rivkin, a Yale-trained facial cosmetic surgeon and UCLA faculty member, with practices in Malibu and Westwood, says, “Botox treatment of the masseter muscles is common in asia for both cosmetic reasons and to treat teeth grinding and tmj.
It works very well for both when injected conservatively and skillfully. However, weakening the masseter muscle can, if done too aggressively, change the shape of the mouth, affecting a singer’s performance. I would be very hesitant to inject a singer’s masseter muscles purely for cosmetic purposes.”

As for the Thermage treatments, Dr. Rivkin says, “I disagree with what her doctor did, for the most part. most importantly, in my experience, thermage just doesn’t work on young patients. the whole point of thermage is to tighten loose skin an 18 year old doesn’t have loose skin! the article doesn’t say where she got botox. if it was to raise her eyebrows, then perhaps it would work.  if it was to smooth out wrinkles, then the same argument applies - an 18 year old doesn’t have any wrinkles! it sounds like she was taken advantage of a bit.”

On his blog, plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn says, “I would bet on the former. I often inject Botox into the masseter muscle of the jaw to cause it to shrink down. This procedure is often performed on Asians, who traditionally have rounder faces and jaw muscle overgrowth.”

MakeMeHeal.com looks forward to seeing Charice on Glee and hopes this ends her foray into plastic surgery, at least for a while.

Read the complete plastic surgery profile of Charice on Plasticopedia, the largest online celebrity plastic surgery encyclopedia.

- http://news.makemeheal.com/celebrity-plastic-surgery/charice-botox/

- http://westsidemedicalspa.com/