WHATEVER NEXT! BOTOX ON THE HIGH ST FOR £99
EXPERTS voiced fears yesterday over a plan to offer Botox and filler treatments in high street shops.
Superdrug launched the service yesterday in its flagship store in the Strand, London, amid rising demand for skin rejuvenation treatments, with prices starting at £99.
But Gerard Lambe, a top plastic surgeon and spokesman for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, warned that the “serious” procedures can have horrific consequences if performed incorrectly.
He said: “While Superdrug may be hiring medically trained nurses, it is crucial members of the public do not treat having Botox and dermal fillers as casual beauty treatments.
“Administering an injection of any kind is a very serious procedure. All kinds of risks can arise, from infection, to incorrectly applied needle placement over delicate facial muscles, which can lead to paralysis.
Risks
“Just this week a woman was permanently blinded in one eye in Australia from a dermal filler injection at a clinic where there was no doctor physically present.”
Superdrug has said the treatments, available to over-25s, will be administered by nurses “trained to the highest standard” and a qualified aesthetics nurse will decide whether they are eligible.
But consultant plastic surgeon Rajiv Grover said: “Just because Botox is being done on the high street, the public should not think it is like a beauty treatment. It is still a medical treatment with benefits and also significant risks.”
Dr Tijion Esho, resident doctor on E4’s Body Fixers TV series, added: “It [aesthetics] will need to be truly medical and have a stable longstanding team of experts delivering a high standard of treatments within a clinical setting.”
Superdrug prices start at £99 for a standard forehead or crow’s feet Botox procedure which can cost as much as £300 elsewhere. If successful, the chain will roll out the service nationwide. Caris Newson, of Superdrug, said: “We’re listening to what people are telling us they would like, which is the reassurance that if they choose to have aesthetic treatments it will be administered by highly qualified nurse practitioners in a private consultation room.”
Dr Pixie McKenna, Superdrug’s health and wellbeing ambassador, backed the move, saying: “We have seen an increase in the number of people claiming to be ‘expert’ practitioners in the field. I have seen and heard many horror stories.”
THE face of the high street is certainly changing, reflecting a change too in the face of the nation. Superdrug is to offer Botox and fillers to its customers, quite a step up from flogging shampoo and toothpaste. But then it’s also reflecting a generational change as these procedures have become far more widespread among younger people. Whatever makes you happy. And comfortable in your own skin.