Offers and vouchers for surgical and non-surgical cosmetic and beauty treatments are all around us. With TV programmes and magazines trivialising the risks of a wide range of these procedures, it may come as a surprise to many people that cosmetic procedures not involving surgery, such as fillers, lasers and intense pulsed light (IPL) are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission and those providing such services can to a degree do as they please. Nine in 10 cosmetic treatments involve these unregulated ‘beauty treatments’.
The obsession with being young, wrinkle free and silky smooth can come with a high price tag. A treatment that takes just a lunch time to carry out can leave physical and psychological scars to last a lifetime if the provider does not have the adequate training, experience and knowledge. If the non-surgical treatment goes wrong and what was supposed to be pain-free becomes painful, people are often shocked to realise that they have “no more protection and redress than someone buying a ballpoint pen or a toothbrush,” according to the Department of Health. What is more, it looks like these procedures wil become the norm for the next generation.
A review into this fast-growing and unregulated area is long overdue and the Department of Health’s Final Report now brings these issues to the fore. Until regulation is implemented into this highly profitable and highly accessible area, the victims of unreliable and untrained providers will continue to increase.
If you have sustained an injury following a non-surgical cosmetic or beauty treatment do not hesitate to contact Cyrene Aboy on [email protected] or call her on 0117 904 7721.
This article was originally publised on 24 April 2013.
