How safe are cosmetic procedures? Apparently we don’t care

WE’RE quick to jump on the latest cosmetic procedures, from lasers to Botox, but how safe are they? Apparently we don’t care, writes Madeleine Ryan.

IT’S hard enough for me to read faces as it is.

Throw in cosmetic surgery, laser treatments, Botox, anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers, and this Autistic mademoiselle doesn’t know where to begin. Are they happy? Sad? Angry? Young? Old? Wearing make-up or... plastic?

According to The Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons: “No-one knows exactly how much cosmetic surgery is being performed in Australia, as national statistics for the industry are not collected at this time.”

ASPS attribute this to the multitude of doctors that are, apparently, trained to perform such treatments.

“Many different practitioners perform cosmetic surgery, ranging from plastic surgeons to cosmetic doctors and dermatologists. For this reason statistics on individual procedures are also not available.”

So… just how many taxpayer dollars are footing the bill for educating surgeons who end up doing your aunty’s liposuction? Conveniently, no one knows.

Yet, in 2016, the Cosmetic Physicians College of Australasia estimated that the nation’s annual spending on “non-surgical” cosmetic procedures topped $1 billion for the first time.

Niki Richardson’s face was burnt during laser treatment. There’s little or no regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures like these.

Just to clarify, “non-surgical” treatments exclude cutting you open, and include chemical peeling, injections, Botox and laser removal of hairs, spots, lines and varicose veins faster than Kylo Ren can wield the force. Well, not quite, it takes a few sessions and a few thousand dollars to get those particular jobs sorted.

There is also zero regulation around the advertising of cosmetic procedures — surgical or otherwise. While The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has developed advertising guidelines for doctors, ASPS claims that “very little is being done to enforce them”.

So in the case of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, what we have is a highly advertised, totally unregulated, rapidly growing, global business.

Even my very friendly beauty therapist down the road claims to be “trained” to inject my face with, well, whatever I like. Most articles offering suggestions as to how to navigate the realm of dermal fillers put all responsibility on the consumer — wait. Patient? Client? I’m not sure anymore.

Botox and injection cosmetic procedures have become so normalised even Groupon is selling them.

But we are expected to ask if a qualified practitioner will be performing the procedure and we are expected to request to see before and after pictures of past clients/patients/whatever so as to feel confident in our spending and decision making and we are expected to confirm that our practitioner specialises in what we want because, you know. They might not.

The inherent message is: no one else is going to take responsibility for these treatments — it’s up to us.

Yet we’re such vulnerable, impressionable creatures. Even the most confident and young among us fall prey to the fountain of youth’s allure. I’ll never forget the day a GOOP newsletter included an image of a scalpel caressing Gwyneth Paltrow’s dewy, fresh face with the hashtag #facialwithscalpel.

I’m sorry, but not even the inclusion of rose quartz crystals in the background can make that seem safe, desirable or OK.

The normalisation of invasive cosmetic procedures is frightening. Is an injection that inserts acid into your face really that different from being cut open and filled with silicon? If a laser can eliminate hairs and veins forever, are its powers really worth underestimating?

US Playmate and former fiance of Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris had her breast implants removed, believing they were “poisoning” her. (Pic: News Corp)

Enter revolutionary Playboy bunnies like Crystal Hefner, Kimberly Holland and Karen McDougal, who each had their breast implants removed and spoke out about the extensive damage that they caused.

Ms McDougal, “runner-up sexiest Playmate of the 1990s” told People in February that “I started having vision disturbances, blacking out, dizzy spells… It became so bad that I was passing out and I was afraid to leave the house. In October 2016, I was on bed rest. I couldn’t drive, I was having panic attacks, I couldn’t see. I had hearing sensitivity, I couldn’t stand noise, I couldn’t tolerate light, I had joint pain, brain fog — the list goes on and on.”

Ms McDougal saw many doctors and “no one could find anything wrong” despite the fact those silicone C-cups were staring them in the face.

“I got to the point where I had no life and I literally thought I was dying. It was time to get them removed,” she told People. “Do I regret removing them? No. Do I miss having larger breasts? Yes, of course I do. But my health is so much more important than breasts.”

I’m looking forward to the day a bunny decides to disown Botox, laser treatments and/or dermal fillers.

Because, whether we’re for or against cosmetic procedures isn’t really the issue: the issue is whether or not they’re safe and worthy of our trust.

And from looking at the non-existent statistics, billions of dollars, “buyer beware” messages and sexy looking scalpels, I would say no, they’re not.