Don’t be a victim of botched botox. Here at Austin Brewer Facial Aesthetics, we have been saying for a very long time.  All potential aesthetics clients, please do your research. Please be careful.  Importantly only use a medically qualified professional with suitable training and experience.  

But unfortunately, as this article in The Times Newspaper proves.  Also by the increasing number of clients visiting our Bournemouth & Harley Street clinics for corrective work.  People are still persuaded by cheap deals and the social media lure of free or heavily discounted treatments.  All for sharing and liking pages and posts.

Interesting fact…

Did you know that anyone can call themselves a nurse in the UK? 

Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, that is a very worrying thought.  

Many social media-based beauty and aesthetics clinics claim they have a nurse injector.  We advise you to ask for their registration number (all medical professionals Drs, Nurses, etc, all have a registration number.)  It is worth checking.  You can also search without their registration number.  Simply go to the NMC website for nurses or the GMC website for Drs and search using their name.  Check to see if they are who they are saying they are.  

Anyone willing to mislead someone by saying they are something they are not should immediately raise a red flag.  A person calling themselves a nurse when they are not is using dishonesty to obtain a potential client.  They are then going to proceed to inject into your face, this is completely shocking and shameful.

Did you know that unless the injector is a medical professional?  They will not be able to access the correct and legitimate aesthetics training? 

Are you aware that unless a medically trained injector administers your facial aesthetic treatment, you could be at serious risk of any number of complications, reactions and infections?

Did you know that all injectable toxins that are used for wrinkle relaxation?  Can legally only be purchased via a reputable UK pharmacy on prescription?  

Are you aware of the reason why unqualified non-medical injectors are not purchasing their products via a recognised UK pharmacy?   The answer is simple, they are not allowed to.  The reputable UK pharmacies do not recognise them as being suitable for carrying out such treatments.  Therefore, will not allow them to purchase the product.  

Did you know that a prescription should be used to purchase toxins and fillers?  Unfortunately, there are plenty of pharmacies popping up online and via social channels.  All of which are offering cheap products and are willing to sell to whoever.

The industry has recently been flooded with unreputable and untrustworthy practitioners.  Who are injecting their clients with products that come from unrecognised sources.  They are only interested in one objective – to take your money.  Such practitioners do not care about you.  They certainly do not have adequate training, should any complications arise or if you need immediate medical assistance.

 

Six reasons a medical professional is the only person you should trust to administer cosmetic injectables:

• They have a professional code of conduct & ethics
• A medical professional will have continual training requirements to maintain registration with a governing body – which is a legal requirement.
• They are accountable for their actions via the governing body
• A medical practitioner will have insurance
• They have the comprehensive medical knowledge to manage any complications that should arise
• They purchase their products from reputable U pharmacies with a prescription

 

Unfortunately, we live in a society where everyone wants a deal, whilst this is great for some areas of life.  Medical procedures are not the area to try and get a deal.  Wait and save for your treatment. You will not regret it.  

Cheap botox or cheap filler is cheap for a reason.  It usually means that corners are being cut, to still enable a profit.  

Cheap treatments always work out more expensive in the long run.  As inevitably the results don’t last that long and you end up having to re-treat sooner than should be necessary.  

Let’s do the maths on that cheap lip filler deal

Say you pay:

£120 for your lip filler – great

but then you need them redone again two months later 

so it will cost another £120 

Over the year, you will be paying £720 just for your lips. 

Or £1080 over one year 1/2

 

Not sounding like such a great deal now

Not to mention the increased trauma to your lips, having to have a needle put in them unnecessarily often. 

However, when you have treatment with Austin your lip filler will cost from £150*

Results will last you at least one year and potentially one year & 1/2.

The products we use are bought from a reputable UK pharmacy on prescription and have all the batch numbers, which are completely traceable from manufacture to you and your treatment.

(*dependent on the amount required for treatment ) We always suggest a thorough consultation to assess your suitability for treatment and to obtain an accurate price.

 

Every week we receive so many phone calls and emails that offer us cheap products or yet another new product.

We would never use these products as they have zero clinical evidence and backing.  It is impossible to know where these products have been made or if they are licensed for use in the UK.  

Not knowing what ingredients are in an unregulated toxin or dermal filler provided by an unscrupulous social media-based pharmacy can result in many terrible outcomes.  Very worst-case scenarios could be permanent facial disfigurement or even blindness.

But most importantly, we will never use our client’s well-being and safety to cut our costs. The products we use are more expensive, but that’s because they are the very best.  Our results last.  Treatments are administered by a medically trained professional with extensive knowledge, training and artistry.  

Look after your face, it’s the only one you have.  It deserves respect and care. If you would like to discuss your potential treatment, please book your consultation with Austin.

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Please take a moment to read The Times article I have included below.

‘Black market’ Botox scars women for life

Practitioners with no professional medical qualifications use social media to target women and girls, an investigation by undercover Times reporters has found

February 2 2022, The Times

The medicines regulator has begun an investigation after undercover Times reporters found beauticians offering to inject women with “black market” Botox, putting them at risk of being disfigured for life.

Practitioners with no professional medical qualifications used social media to target women and girls, suggesting the treatments were safe and would enhance their looks. Many used products that have not gone through safety checks in Britain. Reporters confirmed that at least three practitioners advertising facial injections on social media sites were using cheap versions of Botox that are not licensed in the UK.

The Times Newspaper

At one beauty clinic in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, a man who presented himself as a doctor but is not registered with the General Medical Council tried to convince a female reporter to have 25 injections of an unlicensed product in her face.

Campaigners say they are receiving increasing reports of disfigurements such as permanent facial scarring and large sores caused by injections with unlicensed versions of Botox, often carried out in people’s homes and at beauty salons.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said it was reviewing the findings and would “take appropriate regulatory action where any non-compliance is identified”.

Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said the practices uncovered were “totally unacceptable” and officials were looking into whether legal changes were needed “to ensure no one is harmed”.

The Times investigation found:

Beauticians openly used social media to advertise facial injections using Botulax, Innotox and ReNTox, products from South Korea that are not licensed in Britain.

 A practitioner who said he was a doctor but is not registered to practise in Britain admitted to using Botulax because it was “cheaper” and allowed him to offer competitive deals in a northern town.

Suppliers offered to sell unlicensed versions of Botox to reporters with no questions about their medical training or how the product would be used.

Women said they had been scarred for life due to complications after believing they had been injected with unlicensed or illegitimate products.

Licensed brands of botulinum toxin, of which the best known is Botox, are prescription-only drugs. Although beauticians can administer the injections, they have to be trained and legally their clients must first have them prescribed by a registered prescriber, such as a doctor or a nurse with an additional qualification. The prescriber must only do this after a face-to-face consultation.

‘Black market’ Botox investigation: ‘If you know where you need to put it, nothing goes wrong’…

Reporters found several practitioners posting on social media that they offered unlicensed anti-wrinkle treatments.

During an appointment with two undercover reporters, Vilnis Karklins, who said he was a doctor trained in Latvia but is not registered with the General Medical Council here, tried to convince them that they should have multiple injections of Botulax in their faces.

He asked them to cross off the name of a licensed product on a consent form and write down “Botulax” instead, saying: “It’s just form, it doesn’t matter. It’s just a brand different.” Karklins, who offered the treatment for £145 — about half the typical price — said a prescription was not required and “nothing can go wrong” when he administered it.

 

Samantha Bennett, an aesthetic practitioner from Manchester who visits people at home to do anti-wrinkle injections, suggested that a female reporter should have 11 injections in her face. She offered treatments with Innotox and ReNTox, which are both not licensed for cosmetic use in Britain. There is no suggestion that these specific practitioners botched treatments.

A growing concern

Save Face, a register of accredited practitioners, said it was concerned about the use of unlicensed and illegitimate botulinum toxins. Its latest published figures show that in 2020 it received 270 complaints related to these procedures, up from 210 in 2019.

There is no suggestion that problems were caused by any specific brand. When an unlicensed drug is sold in the UK there is no way of knowing it is not counterfeit, with a fake product put inside a branded vial. Side effects can also be caused by poor hygiene or injecting technique.

One woman who suspected she was injected with an unlicensed product said she was scarred for life and unable to work as a result.

Last year it became a criminal offence to administer fillers to the under 18s. Javid said: “It is totally unacceptable for practitioners to offer unlicensed or unsafe products. We’ve already taken steps to protect children and young people from botched Botox or dodgy fillers and are looking into whether more needs to be done . . . to ensure no one is harmed.”

The MHRA said it was reviewing this newspaper’s findings. A spokeswoman said: “If a medicine is not authorised, there is no guarantee that it meets quality, safety and effectiveness standards required in the UK. This can endanger the health and welfare of people who take them.”

Karklins did not respond to requests for comment. Samantha Bennett, the Manchester practitioner, said that she was not aware the products she used were not licensed and that she bought them from a company that trained practitioners. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” she said.

Hugel, which manufactures Botulax, said the product was high-quality, safe, had undergone rigorous clinical trials and was licensed for use in 28 countries. However, it said it should not be ordered or used by practitioners in the UK.

It expressed concern about counterfeit products being sold under the Botulax brand name and said that problems such as facial lumps could not be related to the legitimate product. It said it closely monitored the supply of products claiming to be Botulax and took legal action against unauthorised distributors.

UK Licensed products only

A spokeswoman said it was inaccurate to describe Botulax as a black market product and that the firm was hoping to have a version of Botulax with a different brand name licensed in Britain in the near future after it recently completed a European approval process. “We strongly recommend consumers and practitioners to use products with official marketing approval.”

Medytox, which manufactures Innotox, said it did not sell this product in countries where it is not licensed, including in the UK. A spokesman said: “Medytox will take necessary measures if any illegal activities related to Innotox’s sales are found.”

Pharma Research Bio, which manufactures ReNTox, did not respond to requests for comment.

‘I cried all the time’
Victoria Lee said she was scarred for life after having botched anti-wrinkle injections at an acquaintance’s house (Charlotte Wace writes).

Real-life terrible experiences

Lee, 41, a make-up artist from Essex, did not believe there was any reason to be worried. Her acquaintance said she “always” had treatment with the practitioner.

“Not for one minute did I think there was anything wrong with it at all, I really didn’t,” Lee said.

A week after the treatment in 2020 marks began appearing on her face. These became “worse and worse” until they were large lumps that leaked blood and pus. She could not go to work and did not leave her home for months.

“It was horrendous,” Lee said. “I just got fat, lethargic, tearful, very down, I cried all the time.”

She contacted the practitioner, who eventually agreed to put her in touch with the supplier of the product. The company said it was unable to help. “Whatever it was they were using was not what it should have been,” she claimed.

Lee booked an appointment with her GP, who prescribed her antibiotics and told her to see a dermatologist. The areas that had been injected needed to be drained and biopsies were carried out. Lee now requires regular filler injections to fill the indentations that have been left in her face.  But treatment will only work to a certain extent.

“I am scarred for life. These marks on my face will never go. I’ve been told that” she said.

“I’m 41 and I should be in my prime. I’ve now got a job in a salon three days a week to get me back out there slowly. But you’re working in front of a mirror, all the time. You can’t get away from it.”

‘Black stuff started coming out’
Elizabeth, who is in her fifties, visited a beautician for anti-wrinkle injections after hearing about her from a “friend of a friend”. But there was no face-to-face consultation with a registered prescriber before the treatment last summer in northwest England.

Early alarm bells

During the appointment, she became concerned because a needle was left on a counter while the practitioner took a telephone call. Baby wipes were used instead of the sterile wipes she had expected. She asked what product was used and believed she was initially told it was Botulax.  Which is not registered for use in Britain, but the practitioner later told her it was a licensed product.

Elizabeth, who is a care professional and asked not to have her real name published.  Said that soon after the treatment she began experiencing pain in her face and could feel tiny lumps forming. The practitioner repeatedly advised her to drink water.

“The lumps on my forehead were hard, they burst and it was like black stuff coming out of them,” she said. The pain grew so bad that Elizabeth went to a walk-in centre.  Where a doctor asked if she had been “beaten up”.  She was sent to the hospital and recalled a nurse saying she had never seen that type of reaction from anti-wrinkle treatments before. Elizabeth was prescribed antibiotics and later paid to see a private dermatologist who gave her stronger medicine.

An ongoing issue following treatment

There were 13 lumps initially and two are still left. It is hoped that her face will heal in time.  But the experience has had a devastating effect on her self-confidence. She still does not know for certain what caused the problems.

“I have to go to work, otherwise I’d have no home,” Elizabeth said. “But I don’t go out socialising. My life revolves around either my job, my grandchildren or one or two friends coming to the house. I used to always go out but now I won’t. I got fed up with people saying, ‘What did you do with your face? It looks like you were beaten up . . . that looks terrible.’ ”

Taken from The Times Newspaper Article

If you would like further information about aesthetic injectables, including how to stay safe. Book a consultation with Austin Brewer, for honest and accurate advice.

Appointments available in Bournemouth, Poole & Harley Street London clinics

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