One of the country's top plastic surgeons has called for Botox and cosmetic fillers to be banned for young people under the age of 25.
In this digital age, a world of “Kardashians” it is difficult not to compare yourself to someone you see online.
Ten years ago, it was people comparing themselves to other people in a magazine, but times are changing and with social media, and it can easily become overwhelming.
That is just us adults, I can’t even begin to imagine what it is like for teenagers in this era, growing up looking at images online of cosmetically enhanced, albeit stunning girls.
One of the country's top plastic surgeons has called for Botox and cosmetic fillers to be banned for young people under the age of 25.
Consultant plastic surgeon at the Blackrock Clinic, Dr Siún Murphy, said the cosmetic procedures should only be carried out in exceptional cases for people under 25 years as young faces are still growing until that age.
"A lot of 18-year olds aren't fully grown yet,” says Dr Murphy, who is a member of the Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons.
"If you start putting filler into a face that is not fully grown, apart from the risk to everyone of sticking a needle into a (blood) vessel, you could actually impede the growth on one side of the face or alter the structure going forward so you're doubling up on that risk. The safer option is 25."
While medicines containing botulinum toxin, trademarked as Botox, are subject to prescription control and can only be administered by a medical practitioner or by a dentist, fillers are currently licensed as a ‘medical device’.
This means that “there is really no regulation whatsoever on the use of fillers” in Europe, according to Dr Callaghan Condon, consultant dermatologist with the Blackrock Clinic.
Dermal fillers, facial injections of collagen, hyaluronic acid or calcium hydroxylapatite, are also are more likely to cause complications than Botox, he added.
“There is no demand or regulation for training {of administering fillers} as it currently stands,” he told RTÉ.
“Literally, anybody could open up and start doing fillers tomorrow.”
The process can cause negative side-effects such as hypersensitivity, infection or necrosis, the death of cells in an organ or tissue.
“It is very easy to put the product into a vessel and if you block the vessel, you can cause necrosis of the skin,” Dr Condon said.
In my opinion, this has to boil down to education. Banning something will for some force under 18s to go to back-street unqualified people, which could easily result in permanent damage to their face.
By law, the age of consent for medical procedures is 16. If we want to ban under 18s having botox we will also have to have a referendum to change the age of consent for medical procedures.