A Northern Irish aesthetics nurse has welcomed yesterday's debate in the Assembly which called for the Health Minister to introduce legislation to increase regulations on non-surgical cosmetic products and procedures.
Tanya Khan is a nurse and owner of Tanya Khan Aesthetics in Belfast. For the last three years, she has been campaigning to strengthen the laws relating to non-surgical cosmetic procedures in Northern Ireland.
Welcoming Monday's debate, Tanya thanked Sinn Féin MLA Liz Kimmons for listening to her concerns and bringing the motion before the Assembly.
Speaking to Belfast Live, she said: "It's been a long time coming, and I welcome it but there are two pressing issues. One is the regulation side of it.
"This isn't about bashing people who are already practising and who are non-medics. It's very much about making sure that we're doing everything that we can to protect the public, based on the fact that we know how badly things can go wrong with non-surgical aesthetic procedures and the lack of regulation when it comes to training.
"There needs to be consistency and there needs to be a minimum standard that needs to be achieved for someone to call themselves competentto perform these procedures and keeping the public safe."
Tanya said that people are very quick to put down non-medics who perform aesthetic procedures but she was instead asking them to "think like a medical person"
"We're asking non medics to think like a medical person with all the training that we've had in university and in our experience, in terms of adhering to a code of professional conduct that they don't have. Medical professionals know that this is an unsafe practice because they don't have the fundamental knowledge of anatomy and physiology and then all the ethics that go with it.
"It isn't just they see kind of a business.You have to be acting in the patient's best interest first, and then it's about obviously then how you making money from performing that service to the best of your ability."
Tanya told us that she hopes any future regulations will look at the level of training needed before anyone can administer non-surgical cosmetic procedures and the licensing of premises to ensure that they are safe.
As a mother of three young daughters, Tanya said that she was concerned to hear that children as young as 14 were accessing filler treatments in Northern Ireland.
"You're always going to get people to say it's up to their parents to educate them, and that they're young adults and what they want to do to their body, they should be able to make decisions.But I completely disagree.
"Body dysmorphia is increasing dramatically among our youth, not just girls and boys also. The majority of it is falling on girls due to the pressures of social media and filters. I t's not reality what we see on Instagram, but they can't see that.
"The bar has been set really high for them not to have any acne and to look perfect and to be skinny. The last thing that we need is to make it legal for them to think that they are not good enough and to be able to change their appearance."
Tanya said that these treatments could have a major impact on people's confidence as they get older, especially for women going through menopause but said what children need is to "fall in love with themselves" and to build their self-confidence and self-esteem.
"Having these treatments at such a young age is detrimental. First and foremost, their anatomy is not finished, and they are still growing.
"You can only give informed consent if you've assessed that the patient has been fully informed and understands it. how can a child give informed consent to having a treatment if they don't really fully understand the risks they're taking?"
Tanya used the example of a growing trend of young people seeking out dermal fillers for their nose area which can cause blindness.
"Another major complication, especially if you're not knowledgeable, and in general with fillers, is the blocking or squashing of an artery. So you're depriving blood flow to a certain area of the face.
"There's just been so many botched stories of young girls and their lips and the tissue going necrotic and scarring, and you can't come back from that, and then that's going to leave them with long-term psychological damage."
Tanya finished: “This is about more than just aesthetics, it’s about setting higher standards for safety, professionalism, and accountability in a growing field. By pushing for enforceable laws, we’re not only safeguarding our industry but also protecting the well-being of future generations.
“I strongly urge the Minister of Health to implement robust legislation to regulate non-surgical cosmetic procedures and ensure everyone is protected. While today’s debate marks progress, there is still much work to be done.”
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