Dermatologist Martine Baspeyras warns of hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin injections which are regularly carried out illegally by hairdressers, beauticians and manicurists.
- The market for hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin injections is constantly increasing in France.
- “In terms of public health, such a development is associated with the appearance of new complications and misuse,” warns Doctor Martine Baspeyras, dermatologist and legal expert.
- “Injections are minimally invasive medical procedures, to be performed exclusively in a medical environment with respect for good practices,” she also insists.
In recent years, aesthetic medicine has experienced rapid development in Western countries, with an increasing number of women and men using it. The market for hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin injections is therefore constantly increasing in France.
“In terms of public health, such a development is associated with the appearance of new complications and misuses,” explained Dr. Martine Baspeyras, dermatologist and legal expert, during a press conference.
Aesthetics: “Injections are minimally invasive medical procedures”
Concerning misuse, the doctor reminded several times that “injections are minimally invasive medical procedures, to be performed exclusively in a medical environment while respecting good practices”. Easily obtainable on the internet or from pharmacists, hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin are regularly injected completely illegally by hairdressers, beauticians and manicurists.
“They offer their clients to inject them at the same time as they cut their hair or do their nails, with prices often less expensive than with aesthetic doctors. Sometimes, women are also trained by their friends There are also influencers who do it themselves on social networks. The other day, I saw one who was about to inject hyaluronic acid into her face without even removing her foundation, it’s an aberration. I am absolutely against this fairground medicine, practiced on the sly”, deplores Martine Baspeyras. “We recently managed to arrest one of these non-doctors in the region, and we calculated that she must earn between 25,000 and 30,000 euros per month thanks to the injections,” says the specialist, very concerned by this discovery.
Aesthetics: what are the potential side effects of injections?
These trends can be dangerous for health, because even when administered by health professionals, the injections are likely to cause many side effects.
“The most common and least serious side effects of cosmetic injections are hematomas or redness, which disappear in around ten days,” explains Martine Baspeyras. “Sometimes it is also a poor aesthetic result, with asymmetry and/or excessive swelling. Another risk without major seriousness: there may be a poor correction with an unsightly effect opposite to that which we were trying to obtain. continues the expert.
“Other complications are more serious but fortunately very, very rare. When the filler is injected into a small arteriole, it can, for example, trigger a hyaluronic acid embolism altering the blood circulation of an area of the face with potentially the development of tissue necrosis, or even loss of vision in one eye”, adds the dermatologist.
“There can also be nodules that appear, sometimes a very long time after a cosmetic procedure. For example, we had the case of a woman who presented this side effect 17 years after an injection of hyaluronic acid, because she changed of immune status when developing rheumatoid arthritis”, explains Martine Baspeyras.
“When you have an injection for aesthetic purposes with a doctor, he can better prevent these side effects, recognize them and treat them, unlike other aesthetic professionals,” she insists.
Aesthetics: what to do before injections
“Before injecting, we must also find out about the patient’s state of health during a prior consultation and what he or she has done in terms of aesthetics before seeing us, which can sometimes not be compatible with an injection. If this is the case, you have to know how to say “no” and justify yourself, even if it is not always easy and even if the person insists.” says the expert. “We must also remain moderate regarding the quantity of product injected”, she warned.
Within the French Society of Dermatologythe new group Aesthetic Vigilance has given itself the mission of collecting the side effects of injectables in aesthetic medicine, their analysis and the definition of the course of action to take. “Its goal is to help doctors improve the management of complications and to try to prevent them to improve the practice of these aesthetic injections,” concludes Martine Baspeyras.