He The world of aesthetic medicine can be very attractive. It is usually associated with improvements in our physical appearance or positive changes in our image. However, it hides a hidden face that many people are unaware of. There are services clandestine in homes in which their “professionals” pose as highly qualified doctors but who, in most cases, lack the knowledge and licenses needed to have an authorized aesthetic medicine practice. A clear case is that of the woman who traveled to Zaragoza last May to undergo Botox injections in an apartment and ended up admitted to the ICU.
These types of cases are increasingly recurrent. Almost half of Spaniards underwent aesthetic medicine treatment in 2023, according to the report ‘Perception and use of Aesthetic Medicine in Spain’. But have all of them been carried out in authorized centers?
The answer, according to this same report from the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Medicine (SEME), is that 28% of them were carried out in clandestine spaces. Many people choose these types of options because of the prices or speed when performing services. But, above all, it is very important to keep in mind that health comes first. “Aesthetic medicine is something that produces health and well-being, but the patient must have the responsibility to go to a well-trained and trusted professional, because there are people who undergo treatments at home or in unauthorized places,” explains Elena Delso, owner of the Delso Clinic, located on Francisco Vitoria Street.
This Zaragoza native studied medicine at the University of Navarra 26 years ago and completed a Master’s Degree in Aesthetic Medicine in Mallorca. After almost half a life in the sector, she is fully aware of the importance of training. “An aesthetic doctor has university training and subsequent intensive. We as aesthetic doctors can control the training topics and now more than ever we have many tools and continuous courses,” says Dr. Delso.
But beyond the theory, it also wants to record everything that lies behind an authorized clinic. “More and more demands are placed on us in regulations to give us permits, titles and licenses. A center must have minimum requirements apart from the doctor’s title or specialty, such as U.48,” says Delso. This is the health license granted by the Ministry of Health of each Autonomous Community that identifies the clinic as an authorized health center.
Additionally, all instruments used in these authorized aesthetic medicine centers must have a minimum authorization endorsed by the laboratories with which they work. “We all receive emails from companies that offer us suspiciously cheaper products and it does not occur to us to buy there, we do not know where they come from, where they have been stored or if they follow the minimum production regulations,” specifies Delso, who currently works as Oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the Miguel Servet Hospital.
Risks of aesthetic medicine
With her years of experience as an expert doctor in the field, Delso warns of the dangers that aesthetic medicine can pose. “Like any medical procedure,“Aesthetic treatments also have their risks.”assures the Zaragoza doctor.
Elena Delsa explains that it is “of vital importance that as doctors we always try to minimize these risks and assess the risk-benefit level of what we are going to apply.”. “It is very important to know how to resolve and be prepared for complications that may arise,” she says.
Some problems that cannot be managed from the clandestine centers, which are increasingly on the rise. These fake doctors lure customers with prices much cheaper than those on the market and they use social networks to reach their audience. Normally they are people who come, spend a day or two in each city and flee. The difference is that most of these people are neither doctors nor do they inject products approved for health use.
Delsa explains that in her clinic, as in all authorized ones, they use Fully legalized products, supported by many studies and authorized by Health. Therefore, he insists on the importance of ensuring that everything is in order before undergoing aesthetic treatment. Otherwise, they may end up like the woman who ended up in the ICU a few weeks ago.
