Instagram blamed for rise in botched fillers
COMPLAINTS about botched fillers have doubled in the past year as experts warn against “celebrity treatment packages” advertised on social media.
The number of patients’ grievances rose from 672 in 2018 to 1,342 in 2019, campaign group Save Face found, with many cases involving teenagers.
Almost half of the complaints were lodged by young women aged 18 to 24, and 63 per cent had found their practitioner on social media.
Instagram accounts using photos of public figures, presumably without their consent, to advertise “celebrity” packages are believed to have driven demand among young women.
The advertisements, which usually promote lip and cheek fillers, have been described as “preying” on young girls with their low costs.
Ashton Collins, the director of Save Face, revealed it was “very common” for young women to bring images of celebrities or “heavily edited selfies” expecting the practitioner to make them look like the photographs.
She said: “Social media has driven an exponential growth in the number of young people seeking treatments and consequently the number of botched treatments. It’s become a hotbed for rogue providers to prey on young girls by offering cheap treatments and celebrity treatment packages.”
Dermal fillers, where hyaluronic acid or collagen is injected to make lips and cheeks fuller, can result in severely swollen lips, anaphylactic shock and even blindness when done incorrectly.
Save Face said “DIY” practitioners were common, with 83 per cent of complaints involving treatments by non-professionals, beauticians and hairdressers. Often, the only training they received was watching a video online or attending a one-day course.
“Dermal fillers are extremely dangerous and unfortunately there are no laws dictating who can or can’t do them,” said Ms Collins.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said it was looking at options to increase knowledge of the procedures, introduce age restrictions, and improve safety and training.
‘Dermal fillers are extremely dangerous and there are no laws dictating who can or can’t do them’