Look Before You Leap : Safety in Cosmetic Medicine!
In my podcast – Difficult Conversations About Beauty, the good, the bad, and the ugly, we
like to get to the nitty-gritty of all things beauty.
In my book, Beautiful Unique Faces, through patient stories, I reveal the importance of
identifying your Unique Facial Feature to avoid the overfilling, over-freezing, and
overtreating rabbit hole many of us are falling foul of. I also expose the real risks associated
with having a medical treatment performed on your face, the dangers associated with going to
a clinician based wholly on their follower numbers and media hype, and how to take
responsibility for your own due diligence in choosing a clinician and treatment option.
In my podcast's “Look Before You Leap” series, we examine everything you need to consider
when having a non-surgical cosmetic medicine treatment.
In this episode, I’m chatting with Bronwyn Granata from AMET about safety in non-surgical
cosmetic medicine.
With an 18-year background in aesthetic medicine spanning the globe, Bron has worked in
management within pharma companies. As a Registered Nurse, Bronwyn Granata is perfectly
placed to set up AMET with co-founder Elena Currie.
AMET, which stands for Aesthetic Medical Emergency Team, is the first of its kind in
Australia. Offering 24/7 support for all aesthetic practitioners, AMET is all about
complication prevention and management. So many complications that arise in aesthetics are
avoidable; however, even the most experienced practitioner will still encounter adverse
events. So much so that Bron and I discuss the latest research demonstrating that one in three
practitioners will encounter a vascular occlusion or VO in our careers.
At a recent conference in Sydney, almost every practitioner I spoke to had experienced a VO.
Since Bron and I have both experienced the horror of a VO, the likelihood of it happening
seems much higher than 30%.
Bron and I go into candid detail, the moments we both realised that our patient was
experiencing a VO. We discuss the harrowing timeline of events that followed and how we
overcame the situation. Again, not to scare our listeners but of paramount importance is your
clinician’s knowledge and the support available to them not if but when they experience any
adverse event.
Dermal fillers, anti-wrinkle injections, and all treatments bring a level of expected side
effects and risks, such as pain, redness, bruising, and swelling. But there are more serious
adverse events for patients to be aware of, too. For example, lumps, bumps, infections, pain
escalating to vascular occlusions, skin necrosis, blindness, stroke, and death.
As practitioners, we have a duty of care to inform our patients of these possible risks and side
effects. Thankfully most people only ever encounter very mild effects, such as a bit of pain at
the injection site or bruising. However, we must inform you about all possibilities. JUST IN
CASE.
- The most critical advice for someone thinking about, or who wants to support someone
thinking about getting cosmetic injectable enhancements; - Find a clinician who values safety and is willing to undertake a thorough consultation
with you - Find a clinician who can identify your Unique Facial Feature and advise on treatment
options appropriate to ensuring it remains your lead actor - Check out the AMET website for patient information and clinician recommendations
- If you find a good clinician – DON’T SHOP AROUND!
- Communicate with your practitioner. If you are unsure about something ~ ASK.
The most critical advice for a clinician just embarking on a journey into performing cosmetic
enhancements;
- Education from independent, non-biased organisations
- Attend as many conferences as possible
- Find a mentor
- Respect your scope of practice, know when to treat, when not to treat and when to
refer - Know your codes of conduct and abide by them NMBA, MBA, DBA
- Don’t be influenced by a business model and go against your code of ethics ~ DO NO
HARM - Join AMET for education and support.
Links to AMET – Instagram – aestheticmet_amet Website - https://aestheticmet.com/
