In 2021 the practice was banned in England for anyone under the age of 18 – but in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland there is still no age limit for people wanting to get fillers and Botox – Despite the lack of regulations and potentially life-altering side effects. ,
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Campaigners say teenagers in England are taking advantage of a gap in the law to travel across the border to Wales and Scotland to get Botox, fillers and other injections.
While England banned cosmetic botox and lip fillers for under-18s in 2021, no such laws exist in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland – and there is no age limit.
The 2021 ban comes after the UK Department of Health estimated that around 41,000 Botox procedures would have been carried out on people under the age of 18 in 2020 – and more than 29,300 dermal filler procedures would have been carried out on the same age group between 2016 and 2020 .
Now, save faceThe company, which runs a government-approved register of accredited practitioners carrying out non-surgical cosmetic treatments such as dermal fillers and anti-wrinkle injections, says it has banned people under 18 from traveling to Wales or Scotland to avoid the law. Report has been received.
Save Face warns that Botox and fillers can have very serious side effects – especially when given to young people whose growth is not complete.
There are fears that in extreme cases, this practice could lead to permanent tissue death and even blindness.
Dr Anjali Mahato, a consulting dermatologist in Harley Street, London, tells Euronews that the injections at such a young age pose countless risks.
“By young I mean under the age of 25,” she says, adding that treating skin at such a young age can have many complications. This can include very unnatural facial expressions, asymmetry and, in extreme cases and in the wrong hands, permanent damage to your facial features.
Experts say that because Botox temporarily paralyzes targeted facial muscles, it reduces their ability to contract and while it may prevent the formation of dynamic wrinkles in teens, it may also damage these muscles over time. Can change the natural speed of.
However, Ashton Collins, director and co-founder of Save Face, says the reports he has received are just the tip of the iceberg in relation to the large scale of injections given to people under the age of 18.
Collins told Euronews, “I think the issue we have is that we’re only really seeing a small percentage of what’s going on because people and parents generally only contact us when When something goes wrong.”
Girls under the age of 15 often come to Save Face as a last resort when the NHS and licensed therapists are unable to help treat damage caused by ‘unscrupulous’ people with limited expertise because they have no Do not keep medical records.
Collins points out that these physicians are everywhere and are completely unregulated and rarely have insurance. Some of them have less than half a day’s training and buy fake Botox from China to avoid engaging with health professionals to prescribe the drug to their patients.
Save Face says that in one case they saw a young man who was injected with beef gelatin.
The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish devolved governments have said they are aware of regulatory differences with England and will try to do more to improve the rules – but have not even debated introducing legislation yet.
Teachers in senior schools cite peer pressure as a significant issue when it comes to Botox and lip fillers in particular.
“We’ve been contacted by schools who have said that a girl came back from the half-term holidays with lip fillers and it wasn’t long before everyone in that friendship group had copied it,” says Collins. The pressure to look in a certain direction has become unbearable for young people now.”
The desire for ‘youth’ across Europe
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The obsession with looking young – even when one is still legally a child – is surprisingly not isolated to Britain.
Italy-based beauty equipment manufacturer VIP Italia analyzed Google search data to find out which European cities are most attracted to anti-aging treatments, including Botox and dermal fillers.
They found that Amsterdam residents search most for youth-preserving procedures, with about 1,532 searches per month per 100,000 residents.
Dublin and Prague come second with 1,191 and 969 per 100,000 respectively – and Milan and Stockholm round out the top five.
These figures apply to people of all ages but Ashton Collins points out that it is a slightly brighter picture on the continent.
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“In most of the rest of Europe, these treatments are much more strictly regulated than in the UK,” she says.
Source: www.euronews.com
