Plans to cut down on “cowboy” cosmetic procedures have been introduced by the government, meaning that only qualified healthcare professionals will be able to perform high-risk treatments.
Clinics administering fillers and Botox will need to meet strict standards to obtain a licence as part of the Department of Health and Social Care proposals to protect people from “rogue operators” with no medical training who often provide “invasive” procedures in homes, hotels and pop-up clinics.
Officials said that people have been left “maimed” by beauty procedures, with some deaths linked to poor care.
One woman who was left with significant injuries after such a treatment told the Guardian she had been left with issues that could last a lifetime.
Triggs, 40, from Leeds, was left with significant bruising and swelling after paying £100 for an Endolift, a non-surgical laser treatment used for skin tightening and fat reduction on the face and body.
Triggs after undergoing counterfeit cosmetic treatment that left her with bruising, swelling and pigmentation issues. Photograph: Triggs
The laser works by inserting a thin, microoptical wire deep into the skin layer, which is used to boost collagen and melt little pockets of fat.
Triggs said: “I had visited this particular clinic before, for other cosmetic treatments such as skin boosters and waxes, so I thought I was in safe hands when they offered me a treatment to tighten and lift my face.
“As soon as the treatment began I knew something was not right. The pain was unbearable and the bruising started instantly.”
Although the procedure was advertised as an Endolift, Triggs received a counterfeit version of the treatment, which usually costs about £2,000 when administered by a medical specialist. EndoliftX® has said it has seen a 250% rise in non-medics administering counterfeit versions of its device over the past year.
Triggs said: “I was left with significant bruising and swelling which lasted months, and I have now just found out that I have post inflammatory pigmentation issues which, if not treated by a professional, will last a lifetime.”
She added: “It is so important to me to warn others about what to look for when booking in a treatment, and that undergoing an unregulated, counterfeit procedure will more than likely cause much more harm than good. Find a trained, well-established professional who has experience in the treatment you are looking for and has the knowledge on safety. I am now months down the line trying to fix my mistake.”
Dr Priya Verma, a registered EndoliftX® practitioner and aesthetic doctor, said that alongside a lack of regulation within the cosmetic industry, counterfeit laser machines were a rising concern. “Increasingly patients are seeking out non-surgical facelifting procedures or body-contouring procedures, and actually there’s a rise in the ability of people to acquire skin-tightening treatments on websites like Alibaba for as little as £400,” Verma said.
“They’re fuelling the problem further because they are then training other non-medical practitioners in how to do these procedures unsafely.”
Alice Webb died after a non-surgical Brazilian butt-lift procedure last year. Photograph: Gloucestershire Police/PA
Alice Webb, a 33-year-old mother of five, is believed to be the first person in the UK to die after a non-surgical Brazilian butt-lift procedure last year.
Webb, who died at Gloucestershire Royal hospital last September, is believed to have had a procedure that involved dermal filler being injected into the buttocks.
In an interview with ITV News, Webb’s partner, Dane Knight, said her death could have been avoided if these regulations had come into place sooner.
“Knowing the risks in the complications, it wouldn’t have happened,” Knight said. “I hope something gets put in place before it happens again and another family is ripped apart and destroyed. Because it will, if something’s not done sooner rather than later.”
Knight added: “It’s a shame that it’s taken someone’s life for it now to be pushed out and for people in power to start listening and to enforce this law to stop other families and other people’s lives being destroyed.”