Lip fillers: Call for tighter regulation after botched treatments

Lip fillers have grown increasingly popular but the industry is "like the wild west", experts warn, with many patients left in pain and embarrassed by their appearance.

As Harriet Green left a salon after getting an injection to add volume to her lips, she was reassured the excess swelling would go down.

But three months later her lips were still so bloated she could not close her mouth properly.

The 22-year-old from Acle in Norfolk needed three corrective procedures - costing a total of more than £700 - to get them back to normal.

"My lips were so uncomfortable. I couldn't put them together because I had two really hard lumps," she says.

Harriet, who works as a customer services call handler, had never had a cosmetic procedure before getting the treatment in December.

After seeing influencers promoting jaw fillers, anti-wrinkle injections and lip fillers on Instagram and TikTok, she decided to get her lips enhanced, hoping it would fix "a small insecurity" she felt about them.

"With the standards of our generation and social media these days, I just thought I wanted it done. There is this massive pressure and so much talk about it. It just seems like the normal thing to do," she says.

But Harriet now realises the industry is "a minefield" and photos on social media "don't always show you the reality".

"It's really scary. You don't always see the final result after a few months. When I smile I feel just as insecure now as I did before, if not more," she added.

The initial treatment cost £165 but Harriet has now paid more than £700 to get her lips corrected by Dr Saba Raja, a GP who runs her own aesthetics clinic in Norwich.

Dr Raja is increasingly having to correct treatments which have gone wrong, she says, describing the experience as "really distressing".

"Every month I'm getting enquires from young girls who have gone to a non-medical practitioner for lip or tear trough fillers under the eye and had complications.

"They often try to contact the practitioner but due to lack of training they are unable to deal with the complications. It is becoming more and more of a problem."

Dr Raja describes the industry as "like the wild west", with people injecting patients "out of the back of their cars" and in kitchens.

"Anti-wrinkle injections (Botox) are prescription-only but the injector can be anybody who has been on a day course. Dermal filler (for the lips and face) is not even a prescription-only medication, you can buy it off any website," she says.

"A lot of non-medical practitioners are buying cheap filler online, with no idea where it has come from. We really need strict regulations and minimum training standards."

The British College of Aesthetic Medicine's annual survey found that 82% of its 400 members treated patients with complications caused by another provider last year.

Nearly 2,000 of the reported complications, which is 59%, came from treatments performed by beauticians, it found.

Dermal fillers caused the most complications, with three reported for every 1,000 treatments last year, compared to 1.5 in 1,000 treatments in 2021.

"This confirms how dangerous dermal fillers can be in the wrong hands," the report adds.

Dr Tamara Griffiths of the British Association of Dermatologists believes dermal fillers are a particular problem because "anyone can inject them" and they are "higher risk" than other cosmetic procedures.

"Permanent blindness is one of the potential risks. It is rare but there have been cases cited in the UK," she says.

Vascular occlusion is another potential complication, where a blood vessel blockage prevents blood from moving through pathways in your body.

Dermatologists have been concerned about the "very unregulated and potentially very dangerous sector" for more than a decade, she adds.

"There is a cohort of increasingly fly-by-night people who inject, who are there on Instagram one day and gone the next, who are frankly fraudulent in claiming their qualifications."

People who want a cosmetic procedure must do their own research and see someone who is reputable, on the voluntary register and belongs to a professional body, she adds.

Ministers also rejected recommendations to make dermal fillers available on a prescription-only basis, in line with Botox.

The Department of Health and Social Care says it is still working on the scheme which will make it an offence to carry out specified non-surgical procedures without a licence and it will carry out a consultation this summer.

"Anyone considering a cosmetic procedure should reflect fully on the possible impact of the procedure on both their physical and mental health and, if they decide to go ahead, take the time to find a reputable, insured and qualified practitioner," a spokesperson said.

For Harriet, the scheme will come too late but after three procedures she is finally happy with her lips and trying to rebuild her confidence.

She hopes by sharing her experience she can encourage other women to make more informed choices.

"If you're going to get lip filler, or anything, do your research before and don't just go by social media pictures because it doesn't mean anything," she adds.