How not to get old – cosmetic surgery hits mainstream viewing
We are seeing more and more television programmes and articles about cosmetic surgery and procedures; all seem to highlight the same argument. Should the remit of non-invasive cosmetic surgery be controlled by the medical profession?
Last week we saw the start of a programme on Channel 4 called How Not to Get Old. We don’t know how the series is going to unfold – it should be quite interesting. However, the first episode aired on the 7th August saw quite a one-sided view of the use of Dermal Fillers in our opinion.
The program stated that there was a high risk of infection with Dermal Fillers and that they should be administered by medically trained Doctors only. There was a view put forward by a Doctor participating in the show that beauty therapists shouldn’t be allowed to train in cosmetic procedures. Of course there is a risk with Dermal Fillers, there is a risk with any procedure that you undertake but it’s not about whether or not you have done a medical degree.
The only way to minimise risk in having treatments carried out by Aesthetic Practitioners is to ensure that their initial training is comprehensive enough to begin with leading to a high level of awareness and competence when treating clients. This includes consultation and care of clients as well as the techniques needed to carry out the procedure, room set up, equipment needed and the level of cleanliness and aftercare advice. The truth is that even medically qualified individuals need this training if they want to carry out aesthetic procedures on clients because their training is designed to teach them how to heal patients not to perform procedures from an aesthetic perspective. Qualified practitioners then need to be inspected on an annual basis, ensuring high standards within the industry.
The other important factor is that Aesthetic Practitioners need to be regulated, not by a medical association but by a regulating body that is specifically designed to ensure high standards of care to clients when non-surgical procedures such as Dermal Fillers and Botulinum Injectables are being carried out. The AAIC has been set up to ensure that non-invasive cosmetics procedures and Aesthetic Practitioners are independently trained and regulated keeping industry standards high and clients happy.
For more information on the AAIC call 0845 026 8391.
