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The Aesthetic industry is completely unregulated

 

 Literally anyone without a medical background can legally set themselves up as an aesthetic practitioner and begin injecting your face. Even those with a medical background are considered “fully qualified” after a basic 1 day foundation course. It’s up to the individual practitioner to recognise this shortfall therefore actively seek (& pay handsomely for) further training to plug the gaps in their knowledge, however not everyone chooses to invest in their learning. The quality of aesthetic practitioners varies wildly, however the following guide will help you to sort the wheat from the chaff!

 

5 things to look for when choosing an Aesthetic Practitioner

 

1. They must be a qualified, registered & insured healthcare professional. Only choose someone with a current healthcare registration, either a dentist (GDC registered), a nurse (GMC) or a doctor (GMC). That way they are obliged to provide a high standard care & can be held accountable if something goes wrong. 

 

2. Choose someone who has undergone extensive and ongoing training. A day foundation course is not enough as it only scratches the surface. In depth knowledge is the only way to achieve excellent results. If your injector has only attended a day course, they can’t possibly know as much as someone who invests in continually improving their knowledge.

 

 3. Someone who has been specifically trained in avoiding & managing complications will keep you as safe as possible. This training is not covered on general Botox/filler courses but requires specific investment. Just because someone is a dentist/nurse/doctor does not automatically mean they know how to manage a complication, as the management protocols are unique to aesthetic medicine and not covered in general medical training. Complications can happen to even the best injector, but it is knowing how to manage them that counts.

 

 4. Your injector should offer you a full consultation prior to treatment, with lots of opportunity for you to ask questions. This is the basis of informed consent. They should be open and transparent about all the risks of treatment. An injector who doesn’t tell their patients about the risks either a) doesn’t know the risks in which case they don’t know how to avoid them, or b) does know the risks but doesn’t want you to know then incase you refuse treatment. In either case this is not a good sign and you should not proceed with treatment. 

 

5. An experienced injector is a must. Choose someone who has treated a large number of aesthetic cases of varying difficulty, with an extensive portfolio to show for it. Someone with scant experience won’t have had the same number of challenges, therefore learning points, as someone who has treated a wide range of people. You can do as many courses as you like, but there is no substitute for getting your hands dirty! Each patient you treat teaches you something valuable, so the more you treat the better you become.