Who to choose when considering anti-ageing facial aesthetics treatments such as Profhilo Kent is an important consideration not to be taken lightly. Non-surgical anti-ageing interventions such as facial injectables account for £2.75 billion in the UK’s cosmetic surgery industry worth £3.6 billion. The rocketing demand for procedures that help make one look younger has seen aesthetics practitioners mushrooming everywhere from beauty parlours to hair salons.
Once, it used to be just those over the age of 30 who relied on interventions to defy the signs of ageing, but thanks to an image-obsessed world, social media and reality TV has spurned younger generations to critique their looks. A recent Snapchat survey found that out of 51,000 respondents (most of whom were aged between 13 and 24) viewed non-surgical aesthetic treatments like lip fillers as commonplace as getting a haircut. Another concerning statistic was the 66 per cent (out of 50,000 respondents) who admitted to being dissatisfied with their facial features and would consider a cosmetic procedure – modifying the nose, changing the lips and appearance of cheeks were procedures they would like.
Catering to this surge in demand has resulted in everyone hopping onto the bandwagon – proper medical skills and training side – to offer procedures that shave off the years. Herein lies the problem.
The problem with an unregulated non-surgical aesthetics industry
The non-surgical cosmetics industry in the UK is largely unregulated as no licence is required to offer these treatments. This raises a serious concern as unqualified practitioners can do serious harm; patient complaints and undesirable side-effects from botched procedures continue to make headlines. The chance of a mishap occurring is greater when the said practitioner does not have the required knowledge and skills to perform, what is in essence, a medical intervention treatment (especially concerning facial injectables).
Facial injectables require a practitioner to skillfully inject the product into an area particularly chosen for the optimum effect. This means that the practitioner needs to have intimate knowledge of facial structures in addition to being extremely dexterous in the use of fine needles. Choose the wrong practitioner, and this opens up a whole host of untoward consequences: bruising, bleeding, swelling, infection, numbness, frozen features, dizziness, paralysis of the area, drooping eyelids, asymmetrical results and allergic reactions. In some instances, patients also experienced hair loss, blindness and tissue death.
Lured by cheaper prices and discounts, unsuspecting patients think it is worth saving a little bit of money, preferring a beautician over a dentist, but they fail to take into account what exactly the quality one is paying for.
Finding a reputable practitioner in non-surgical cosmetic interventions is key to a safe and pleasing patient experience. Dental practitioners invariably are ideal for such procedures as they hold the perfect bouquet of credentials. They undergo many years of medical training, concentrating on core anatomical structures, and are aptly skilled in administering injectables, which is a core part of their professional expertise. More than this, the dental industry is a regulated one, which means no cutting corners when it comes to health and safety protocols, and there is an ethical code to abide by.
