Save Face, a government-approved register of medical aesthetic professionals, is calling for an urgent ban on liquid BBLs and breast augmentation procedures, saying it is a crisis waiting to happen.
The company conducted research into the treatments after receiving an alarming amount of patient complaints relating to the procedures. The non-surgical treatments are being advertised as risk-free and cheaper, injecting large amounts of filler into the buttocks, hips, and breasts instead of going under the knife.
The study has revealed that 99% of over 2000 registered medical professionals do not perform non-surgical BBL and breast augmentation procedures as they deem them too dangerous. Despite this, they are being offered by laypeople, hairdressers and beauticians who have no healthcare experience and are unable to manage potential complications.
Save Face says that these treatments are becoming increasingly popular and that the Government must act quickly to prevent fatalities.
In the past year, the body has been contacted by over 200 people who have had unwanted outcomes, adverse reactions, and complications, over 70% of which have required hospitalisation and 39% needing corrective surgery. All the complaints reported were regarding treatments carried out by non-medical practitioners.
To gather a wider evidence base of the issues relating to these treatments and to get a better understanding of the range of practitioners offering them, Save Face surveyed their database of practitioners.
“I made an oath to “do no harm”. There is nothing about the way this treatment is currently offered that is either safe, moral, or ethical,” said Save Face registrant and plastic Surgeon Dr Paul Baguley, “The only outcome from this procedure is an unquestioningly poor result which comes at great cost to the patient who is drawn in by false advertising into a shockingly dangerous environment with a very real potential of death from complications.”
Unlike facial fillers, where complications can be managed effectively by skilled injectors, these procedures often require hospital settings, intravenous drugs, and surgical intervention to rectify. These complications are burdening the NHS due to the laypersons carrying out the procedures.
Save Face Director Ashton Collins said, “This is a crisis waiting to happen. We are launching this campaign because it will only be a matter of time before someone loses their life. I have seen firsthand the devastating impact these procedures have on the mental and physical wellbeing of the people affected. We need an urgent ban on these treatments to prevent people from being able to inflict the types of life-threating complications that these treatments can cause. Without it, these practitioners will continue to take risks with people’s lives. No practitioner should be offering a treatment that they have to rely on the NHS to manage potential complications.
“I am flabbergasted and appalled by the unscrupulous nature of the people who are still offering these treatments even though they know some of their patients have been hospitalised. It is outrageous that laypeople feel it is appropriate for them to offer treatments that surgeons will not perform because they are too dangerous.”
Based on the data collected, Save Face says that immediate action needs to be taken to address the risk to life and the financial burden on the NHS.
