At MATA, we pride ourselves on providing plastic-surgeon led aesthetic injectable training that focuses on patient safety. We only accept doctors, nurses, dentists, midwives, pharmacists and paramedics onto our courses, as we believe that only those working as medical professionals have the underlying education and skills needed to be able to work safely in the aesthetics industry.
Life-Endangering Mistakes
This belief has been proven by a story shared by the Consultant Clinic over the course of the last week. A client had attended an unnamed Liverpool-based beautician for non-surgical rhinoplasty, and suffered a vascular occlusion which wasn’t detected until four days after the initial injections. The client had had a full 1ml of filler injected, far above the recommended volume for this type of procedure.
On attending the Consultant Clinic, their medically trained staff immediately administered hyaluronidase to dissolve the filler, however the client had to be taken to Accident and Emergency as the tissue in the nose was showing signs of necrosis. The Consultant Clinic team pushed for treatment, and the hospital placed the client in a Hyperbaric Chamber to hopefully prevent the loss of her nose. As of yet, it’s unknown what the longer-term implications will be for this poor young woman – she may still lose part of her nose, she will likely have scarring, and it’s only thanks to the actions of the medical professionals at the Consultant Clinic that the situation wasn’t worse.
A Need for Greater Industry Legislation and Regulation
These circumstances highlight the need for greater legislation and regulation in the aesthetics industry. A study by Save Face showed that in 2018, 46% of botched filler treatments that required repair had been carried out by beauticians. Medical professionals have the opportunity to gain a huge amount of experience in a clinical setting, not to mention years of education in anatomy, vasculature, musculature, medication, contraindications and clinical practice. Non-medical aesthetic practitioners simply cannot match this level of expertise. Given that mistakes made with dermal fillers can cause tissue necrosis, blindness, and even death; it is our opinion that only medical professionals should be administering aesthetic injectables, to prevent risk to clients.
MATA was launched with the intention of improving training within the aesthetic industry, and we will support measures to make a safer, more regulated industry a reality. In the meantime, we will continue to provide patient-centred training to medical professional; ensuring our delegates leave us with the advanced injecting skills that will prevent severe complications, and the confidence to manage any emergency that may arise.
