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Have your wrinkles corrected by amateurs? The idea seems absurd, and yet: the National Agency for Medicines and Health Products has received around forty complaints following “wild” injections of hyaluronic acid with side effects that can go as far as serious infections or skin necrosis.
Filling in wrinkles to stay young or increasing the volume of certain parts of your body is a trend that is attracting more and more people. But injections of hyaluronic acid should not be performed just anyhow and by just anyone. In a press release published on July 11, the National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) recalls the risks incurred following “wild” and non-medical injections.
Forty reports
It is a phenomenon that continues to grow. Since the beginning of 2022, the ANSM has reported “about forty reports of adverse effects following injections (…) carried out by unauthorized persons”. In other words, people who do not evolve in the medical field.
On January 6, 2022, the National Syndicate of Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (SNCPRE) had denouncedthe exponential growth in the activity of these illegal injectors (beauticians or hairdressers, manicurists or even eye prosthetists), without any skills, who are rampant on social networks” and had alerted the public authorities to the irreversible consequences for their victims. The union had even filed concerted criminal complaints against the illegal injectors, denouncing their lack of qualification but also the often dubious origin of the injected products “often counterfeits purchased on the Internet, even merchandise fallen from the truck, mixtures of hyaluronic acid often in bulk, unpurified, non-sterile”.
Only doctors are authorized to perform them.
The National Medicines Safety Agency recalls in this respect that injections carried out without authorization are dangerous and prohibited: “only doctors are authorized to perform them”.
Indeed, the success of an injection is based on several criteria: the hygienic conditions in which it is carried out (change of syringe, bottle, disinfection of the premises, etc.); the choice of the injectable product according to the injection zone; the traceability and proper preservation of the injected product; facial and body anatomy; the upstream realization of an interrogation; analysis of the patient’s medical history (allergies, autoimmune diseases, etc.)
If not done properly, hyaluronic acid injections can lead to side effects, including allergic reactions, bleeding, or subcutaneous infections.
Non-medical injections: what are the risks involved?
They are many and varied.
- An allergy to the injected product (anaphylactic shock);
- A local infection of the area where the product was injected (which can turn into sepsis if the infection is not treated in time);
- Viral (HIV, hepatitis C) or bacterial contamination if the material used has already been used;
- Necrosis or ischemia which can lead to tissue amputation if the product is injected into a blood vessel;
- Loss of sight if the product is injected into a vessel that irrigates the eye.
In the long term, the risks are migration of hyaluronic acid and inflammation of the injected tissues.
In case of side effects, the doctor can prescribe an appropriate treatment. Hospitalization is sometimes necessary.
“Doctors know how to manage immediate adverse effects such as an allergy to the injected product – anaphylactic shock –, necrosis or ischemia – clogged blood vessel –, with appropriate medical treatment.concludes the ANSM.