Ireland’s cosmetics industry is “completely unregulated” with people offering procedures like dermal fillers without any medical training.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Derma Clinic owner Patricia Molloy warned that it is “extremely dangerous” to get dermal fillers from someone without the right medical training.
She warned that if something goes wrong, you could lose the skin in the part of the body you are targeting and could even go blind.
“It is completely unregulated,” she said.
“Unfortunately, in this country, anybody can set up a clinic.
“They don’t have to have any medical background at all and can order, for example, dermal fillers online and just start practicing – which is frightening.”
Ms Molloy said nurses, doctors and dentists do a huge amount of training to ensure they are constantly up to date with the latest in cosmetic medication and warned that it is “extremely dangerous” to carry out procedures without medical training.
“The danger of it is that, if a dermal filler is injected into any kind of blood vessel, it can travel,” she said.
“One of two things can happen. Either the blood supply to that area of skin can be cut off and you can lose the skin in that area completely or worse still, the dermal filler can travel up into the back of the eye and cause blindness.
“The public aren’t aware of this and the people doing these treatments that are non-medics, really don’t have the education or skills to correct it if anything does go wrong.”
Ms Molloy said she has been campaigning for the sector to be regulated for nearly a quarter of a century.
“What we need at this stage if for clinics to be licenced so that people know where they are going and they understand that the people working in these clinics are experienced, educated and can treat to ensure that there is patient safety,” she said.
Asked what people should look out for considering cosmetic procedures, Ms Molloy said the first thing to look out for is prices that are too good to be true.
She said some clinics are charging prices that are so low, the filler they are using could not possibly be FDA or CE approved.
She said customers should demand a consultation and always ask a practitioner for their experience.
When it comes to young girls seeking treatments like lip fillers, the advice is simple: “Nobody should be having these sorts of treatments in their teens.”
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