HCV infections are increasing. You can get infected from a beautician during manicure and mesotherapy

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Abscesses on the lips, tissue necrosis, HIV or HCV infections – the number of complications after unsuccessful aesthetic medicine treatments performed by beauticians is increasing. Probably 230 thousand. people in Poland are infected with HCV, which causes hepatitis C, but only 30 thousand know about it. people. – Only doctors should have the right to perform procedures that violate the continuity of tissues – says Dr. Joanna Wiśniewska-Goryń from the Damian Medical Center.

1. When injecting botox or hyaluronic acid in beauty salons, more and more serious complications occur in patients. There is no doctor in the office and the beautician is not prepared to deal with unusual complications
2. Infections with HIV, HPV or HCV, i.e. jaundice, are also becoming more frequent. Many beauty salons only have steam sterilizers, which is insufficient, because, for example, the so-called HCV virus. Implantable jaundice is not killed at 100 degrees Celsius
3. The Polish Dermatological Society and the Ministry of Health do not recommend aesthetic medicine treatments performed “with tissue continuity” by cosmetologists. However, the beautician community does not mind this ban

Medonet: Why are injection fillings such as: botulinum toxin, hyaluronic acid, needle mesotherapy, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) become so popular?

Bow. med. Joanna Wiśniewska-Goryń, specialist in general and plastic surgery: The simplest answer is because they work. They help us maintain a young and healthy look without the use of a scalpel, and at the same time they visibly reduce the signs of the passing of time. If they did not give such spectacular effects, and the patients would not be satisfied, no one would do them. This is the natural order of things. At the moment, the most common treatments are botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid, followed by mesotherapy and PRP platelet-rich plasma with hook threads.

At what age is it worth considering rejuvenating treatments?

I always reply to my patients in the same way: there is no age limit. How quickly we age depends on our genes, lifestyle, the environment we live in, the workplace, and exposure to stress. Sometimes twenty-year-olds come to me, who need botox due to their rich facial expressions. If we don’t do it early, deep lines will appear on the face. On the other hand, I also have sixty-year-old patients who have never had such a need. It is a very individual matter. Similarly, people with full faces do not require replenishing the volume with hyaluronic acid. Doing so will have the opposite effect of disfiguring. If in these patients we have tissue sagging, we should think about lifting with the use of threads, and not adding volume.

Aesthetic medicine clinics grow like mushrooms after rain – what should we consider when choosing a treatment site?

First of all, whether there is an aesthetic medicine doctor in the office and whether he is the one who performs the treatments. I mean treatments with botulinum toxin, which is a prescription drug. A person who is not a doctor cannot legally possess botulinum toxin. In turn, preparations of hyaluronic acid and other substances from the group of the so-called fillers are classified as medical devices and according to the regulation of the Minister of Health of 5 November 2010 on the classification of medical devices, they should be properly delivered, properly maintained and used in accordance with the intended use, and the user of the device is obliged to follow the instructions for use. Remember that the material filling the wrinkles must come from a reliable source and be tested and safe. All this should be explained to us during the first consultation by the doctor who will perform the procedure.

So the fashionable “botox party” is out of the question?

Never in your life should you take part in such events. Is there an anti-shock kit in the apartment where the “botox party” is held? Is there a doctor who will provide first aid in the event of an anaphylactic shock, i.e. a direct threat to life? I am frightened by a similar carelessness towards my own life, beauty and body.

More and more often there are complications after unsuccessful aesthetic medicine treatments: swollen lips, bumps on the face, nerve palsy, skin necrosis …

Yes, this is a very big problem – in some European countries, treatments in the field of aesthetic medicine can only be performed by dermatologists, plastic surgeons and surgeons. People who are not practicing physicians, i.e. nurses, beauticians or cosmetologists, have absolutely no right to do so. Unfortunately, in Poland, everyone can be trained in the administration of hyaluronic acid in a short course. You don’t even have to be a medical person. That is why I warn my patients to check what clinics they choose. The quality of the material is equally important – if the treatment costs cheaper than the product, I immediately know that the worst quality preparation was used. She has been working on proven preparations for years, but when I talk to my patients, I hear that they prefer to pay more for good quality. Many preparations that are available on the market are not authorized for subcutaneous administration. Nevertheless, some people use them, which is associated with serious complications. In addition, we must make sure that the person who undergoes hyaluronic acid treatment knows the anatomy of the face – a huge number of complications are associated with skin necrosis, because the blood vessel is closed with hyaluronic acid. If the doctor knows the anatomy, he knows where injections cannot be performed.

What about less serious complications?

These are most often infections as a result of non-compliance with the rules of asepsis during the procedure. Care should be taken to disinfect the patient’s skin thoroughly and to ensure that the tools used during the procedure are sterile and disinfected. In aesthetic medicine, the continuity of the skin is often violated, therefore compliance with these rules is extremely important for the safety of patients and protecting them from infection. Another minor complication is asymmetry, which is uneven or overfeeding, resulting in a scary ‘Donald Duck’ mouth.

Can such a “fish mouth” be saved somehow?

You can – surgically. Repeated administration of an excessive amount of hyaluronic acid into the mouth results in the formation of fibrous tissue after some time, which is a response to the inflammatory reaction to the constantly administered hyaluronic acid. Surgical correction is the only way to remove excess connective tissue. Hyaluronic acid itself can be dissolved with hyaluronidase. Likewise, if we have inflammatory complications, i.e. facial abscesses, it also ends with surgical treatment.

Prof. Andrzej Kaszuba, a national consultant in the field of dermatology and venereology, in an interview with Rzeczpospolita said that in Poland HIV, HPV or jaundice is more and more common when injecting botox or hyaluronic acid into clients of beauty salons, is that true?

Yes, if the person who performs the procedure does not follow the basic rules of asepsis. Therefore, check whether the doctor throws the needle and syringe into a special container after the procedure. I always open a new packaging of the injection preparation next to the patient. I am frightened by women who say that they would only like half a syringe of the preparation after another patient – then I make big eyes and wonder what offices they have been in so far …

Bow. med. Joanna Wiśniewska-Goryń

General and plastic surgery specialist, certified doctor of aesthetic medicine. He specializes in non-ablative surgery procedures with the use of plasma – inoperable upper and lower eyelid lift, neck lift, hook thread lift – APTOS certificate, stem cell transplant, use of platelet-rich plasma, liposuction with adipose tissue transplant. Outside of work, he is interested in art – painting, sports – windsurfing, skiing, swimming and traveling.