The Scottish Government have announced that they will introduce regulations for beauty therapists relating to cosmetic surgeries that are being carried out such as lip or cheek fillers.
Beauty therapists in Scotland who carry out such procedures will be required to obtain a licence once the licencing system is introduced.
Concerns have grown over the increasing risk of the surgeries going wrong, and currently, as these procedures are not regulated, any therapist can offer to provide these treatments.
Face and lip fillers (also known as dermal fillers) are substances that are injected into your face. They fill lines and wrinkles and can add volume to areas such as your lips and cheeks.
If the procedure is not carried out correctly, serious problems can occur. These can include:-
- infection
- a lumpy appearance under the skin, which might need to be treated with surgery or medicine
- the filler moving away from the intended treatment area, which may need to bre moved using surgery
- scarring
- blocked blood vessels in the face, which can cause tissue death and permanent blindness
Statistics show that currently demand for these types of treatment is high:-
- 2.75bn - estimated value of UK's non-surgical cosmetic surgery
- 59% - 13 to 24 year olds see lip fillers as routine as getting a haircut or manicure
- 68% - young people say friends have had fillers
- 160 - different types of dermal filler available for use in Europe, compared to only 10 in the US where they have tigther regulations
- 1,617 - complaints received by Save Face last year regarding unregistered practitioners
- 1.2m - posts for #lipfillers on Instagram
- 3.9m - Google searches for "lip fillers" in UK last year
- 40% - 13 to 19 year olds say images on social media caue them to worry about body image
A public consultation has been launched and will run until the end of April. Scotland will be the first country in the UK to introduce such a system.
If you, or anyone you know has suffered from problems following cosmetic treatment that was not carried out correctly, and you think you may have a claim, you can contact us on 0800 988 8082 or by using our online enquiry form.
