A BRADFORD doctor has welcomed news that ‘tweakments’ like filler will be banned for under-18s.

The new law comes into force tomorrow (October 1).

Dr Amina Ahmed has seen first-hand the impact of botched procedures on people, particularly young girls. She opened her own aesthetics and cosmetic dermatology clinic, Skin Britannia, in Bradford in 2019.

The law change means that ages will need to be verified before enhancements can be carried out, with practitioners facing prosecution if they fail to do appropriate checks.

However, where there is a medical need, a doctor will still be able to approve treatment, but this must be administered by a doctor, nurse, dentist or pharmacist.

Dr Amina said: “I am delighted that this change in law will be coming into effect, and I know it will prevent lots of young people, who are often looking for ‘cheap’ over ‘safe’, from ending up with botched procedures.

"When administered incorrectly, these ‘tweakments’ can cause blindness, blood clots or even necrosis. Both in my role as an aesthetician and cosmetic dermatologist, and also in my role as a Medico-Legal Expert Witness, I have seen so many young people who have suffered due to medical negligence.

"I highly recommend always using a medical professional for these types of procedures, and always do your research. Access to fillers is as easy as buying a band-aid.”

In the most extreme cases, some patients have had to have parts of their faces removed to prevent necrosis spreading following on from cosmetic procedures. 

It’s thought that more than 41,000 procedures, such as lip enhancements, were carried out on people aged under 18 last year, and ‘Save Face’, a group which advocates for safe procedures on vetted practitioners, received 2,083 complaints about botched procedures last year, up from 217 in 2016.