Frozen face, droopy eyelids, crooked mouths? ‘Sadly, Botox started as a real breakthrough, with good intentions, but has become overused and abused’, says Dr Lowe. Unfortunately, in an industry where huge profits are to be made there will always be cowboys and charlatans prepared to take your money at any cost. But where do you start in the hunt for a reputable and skilled ‘Botox practitioner’?
There is currently no mandatory regulation of the industry, and unscrupulous practitioners have been administering Botox injections at parties and in homes, as well as beauty and hair salons, and complaints of botched treatments have increased.
‘It’s imperative that your practitioner has had proper training, but in the UK it’s open to everyone’ explains Dr Lowe. Dr Comins agrees, ‘There are a lot of people offering these services who don’t understand the basics such as hygiene and using the correct equipment’.
Problems can range from droopy eyelids and eyebrows, and droopy smiles, to asymmetrical faces. ‘Another problem that we also see, is when patients come in saying that their treatment only lasted for a few weeks, which means that the product was diluted’, says Dr Lowe. ‘It is important that Botox is injected in the right place, in the right muscle, with the right dilutions, by the right person’.
Can mistakes be put right? Yes, to some degree, says Dr Lowe. ‘When it goes wrong, such as drooping of the brow, you can inject the brow to elevate it. You can correct a crooked smile by injecting the other side. There are a number of things we can do but we can’t always guarantee it. Although Botox is temporary, mistakes can also be very distressing’.
Find your Botox doctor
Earlier this year, a voluntary register set up by the privately run Independent Healthcare Advisory Service (IHAS) hopes to weed out some of the Botox cowboys. The new IHAS Register of Injectable Cosmetic Providers, hopes to point people in the right direction, although Dr Comins, a member of the advisory board and President of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors (BACD) admits that it’s not foolproof. ‘The aim is to steer clients away from non-medical professionals such as hairdressers and beauty therapists,’ he explains, ‘and to help those who are not in the know’.
For real reassurance, if a doctor is registered with BACD or the General Medical Council (GMC), then you can be safe in the knowledge that they are more than qualified to administer Botox.
Dr Sister stresses the importance of feeling comfortable with your doctor, and asking as many questions as possible, including the risks and benefits. ‘You should also be able to go back two weeks later if any top-up is needed,’ he says. ‘You can always add more but you can’t take it away, and this should be included in the cost of the treatment.’
Find the right doctor, and Botox could give you the youthful face you’ve longed for for years. ‘Botox can be a fantastic tool, and you can get real value for money,’ says Dr Comins. ‘It can work wonders, I love it’.
Botox costs from approx £200 per treatment.
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