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My Botox Nightmare: Why I'll Only Ever See a Medically Qualified Practitioner From Now On!

What does it matter who does your Botox treatment so long as it's done? Especially if you're getting a bargain, right? Erm, turns out it does matter. I spoke to Luisa Fernandez, aged 43, who shared what happened when she got anti-wrinkle injections for the first time at her local salon...

If you're going to book Botox, book it right. Don't let anyone inject your face, find a medically-qualified practitioner on Glowday.

Cheap Botox Is Bad Botox

I wasn’t really considering Botox seriously. A few of my friends had used it and I thought at some point I’d want to give it a whirl - I was up for it, but it wasn’t a big deal for me. I did, however, want my eyebrows microbladed and it was while having this done the beautician told me she also did anti-wrinkle treatments. She showed me a few Botox before and after images of other women she’d treated, and they looked good.

I was, essentially, letting this woman tattoo my forehead, so it didn’t even occur to me that she might not be entirely qualified to administer Botox. It was cheap - really cheap – and I love a bargain.

It turns out you pay for what you get.

Luisa regrets trusting her beautician to administer Botox and now wonders if she was injected with a dodgy product.

My Botox Side Effects

Within hours of leaving, my forehead was bumpy, really bumpy. There were just lumps everywhere. This wasn’t the smooth forehead I wanted. Sure, I didn’t have a wrinkle, but I did have a tiny forehead of speed bumps. I started to worry a bit about my Botox treatment and figured I needed to do something about it.

I realised I needed to see an expert, I didn't feel it would do me much good to go back to the eyebrow lady! I asked around and a friend of mine recommended Dr Anna Hemming. The moment I walked into her clinic I could see and feel that this practitioner was on another level. It didn’t feel like a salon. It felt clinical, it felt medical, it felt reassuring – but it was also absolutely beautiful. It just hadn't occurred to me that Botox is a medical procedure. You just think of it as a beauty treatment, but that's really not the case. Just because a treatment is making a difference to you aesthetically it doesn't make it a beauty treatment - it's toxin! Why are we all so free and easy about people injecting needles in our faces, it makes no sense to me now!

Anna was amazing, She reassured me that the bumps would settle and I’d just have to wait it out. Worryingly, she told me that I may not have been injected with pure Botox and that was why it was so cheap, that beauticians are using cut-price unregulated products. I was lucky the impact of my cheap quick-fix wasn’t worse.

I really believe more education is needed about this. I don't understand why it's allowed to happen, why aren't people regulated? I think people absolutely need to use Glowday to find a practitioner else they risk something going very wrong.

Botox For Teeth Grinding

The depth of knowledge Anna has, her experience and her professionalism is worth every penny. In fact, Anna’s had a real positive impact on my entire wellbeing. I’ve always had a problem with grinding my teeth at night and it was beginning to give me severe headaches. After mentioning this to Anna, she told me she could treat this with Botox. Who knew! It’s now cured and I’m so relieved and sleeping so much better and feeling great.

I haven’t actually had further toxin treatments for vanity reasons, but if I do, I would never not use a medically qualified practitioner now.

Glowday lists only medically qualified aesthetic practitioners, who carry out thorough consultations prior to treatments, so you can be sure you're in good hands. Search now and get glowing!

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