Voices: Zellweger, Botox and the point of no return

Renee Zellweger is the latest casualty of an Internet firestorm over her looks. The 45-year-old actress no longer resembles her Bridget Jones's Diary self, and she garnered plenty of attention for it after her appearance at Elle's 21st annual Women in Hollywood Awards on Monday.

She fired back, telling People magazine, "People don't know me (as) healthy for a while. Perhaps I look different. Who doesn't as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I'm happy."

The rumor mill churned, insinuating that Zellweger had Botox work done due to her virtually line-free forehead and puffy face. She has not admitted or denied it.

Whatever the reasons behind Zellweger's new look, the kerfuffle raises a good question. What does aging gracefully look like anymore? Wrinkles, warts and spider veins? Or BOTOX® Cosmetic, face lifts and tummy tucks?

Americans underwent more than 15.1 million cosmetic procedures in 2013, according to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. That's a 3% increase from 2012 and a 104% jump since 2000.

Gallery: Renee Zellweger looking different

So plastic surgery doesn't just impact Hollywood. Real-life American women and men struggle with the aging process and seek out these procedures in droves. And marketers are acutely aware of this fact.

As a 29-year-old female, I received an e-mail recently announcing in the subject line, "Give the gift of Botox to your B.F.F." I thought, "How awful that Millennials are being targeted for a treatment usually geared toward women in their late 40s."(Full disclosure: This year, I've spent upward of $800 on skin care creams and facials as preventative measures, so I am probably on some mailing list. OK, I didn't wear much sunscreen as a teen at New Jersey beaches, and I also smoked for a decade.) But according to several plastic surgeons, that e-mail was right on time.

Statistically speaking, more than 1.1 million from ages 30 to 39 used Botulinum toxin type A in 2013, an FDA-approved injectable that treats frown lines. That's up 4% from 2012. Among the 20- to 29-year-old set in 2013, that number was 94,865, a 2% jump from the previous year.

"I do see the younger and younger gals using it," says Anne Taylor, a plastic surgeon and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery. She admitted to starting injections at 30. And swears by them.

She says the wrinkles start to really pick up in your early 30s, and "women today are aware of their options and choices to prevent ongoing damage." By damage, do we mean natural aging? And by choices, are we really referring to societal pressure?

"As (clients) see the lines and as they see older patients having deep lines, they want to prevent them from developing," says Talal Munasifi, a top-rated plastic surgeon in the Washington, D.C., area. "I think that is what is bringing younger patients in." The logic of injecting early is to stave off lines that develop so deeply they can't be reversed. Taylor says that, of course, is a personal decision.

The price for my generation to maintain Botox use is costly, especially given we've been confronted by a slowly recovering economy and hefty student loan debt. Taylor gives a conservative estimate of $12,000 over 10 years for 30- to 40-year-olds, with injections about every three months.

I never thought much about the number 11. But now, after hearing plastic surgeons use it to describe the two angry lines between your eyes that tend to show up first as wrinkles, I've looked for the numeral in the mirror often.

Yet, I don't think I can condone Botox. It seems like a gateway injectable, and eventually you reach a point of no return.

You could, as so many celebrities have, become unrecognizable, even to yourself.

Durando is a news editor at USA TODAY