Dozens of incidents involving Botox and dermal fillers have been reported to the State’s medical regulator in recent years .
Minister for Health Simon Harris has asked his officials to see if there is a need to further regulate the sector amid growing evidence internationally that teenagers are accessing cosmetic treatments.
Doctor Tracey Godfrey from the Genesis Clinic in Waterford City says teenagers are getting treatments they don't need.
She is welcoming plans under patient-safety legislation, that providers of high-risk healthcare activities, including some cosmetic procedures, taking place outside a hospital
will require a licence to operate.
She says "It's about time proper regulation in the sector is introduced, as these are medical procedures. It seems to me that they are being advertised
as something like having your eyebrows tinted or getting eyelash extensions. Unfortunately it seems to be a lot of young girls who are influenced by people
on social media and they are starting to look quite deformed".
The States Medical regulator is seeking data on incidents where patients who had dermal fillers or botox and subsequently required medical treatment.
The authority received 12 reports which included complaints of pain, infection and blurred vision but says under-reporting is a factor.
Doctor Tracy Godfrey, who operates the Genesis Clinic in Waterford City, says she has, on numerous times, been requested to rectify procedures which have administered by un-qualified people.
The authority says the true number of incidents and cases is probably higher, as under-reporting is a factor in a sector where awareness of the need to report is low and mechanisms for reporting are not in place.
The Minister for Health says his department, which in 2014 imposed a ban on under-18s using sunbeds, is looking at whether a minimum age should be imposed on the use of certain cosmetic products.
Botox, which is used to smooth wrinkles, has to be administered by a medical doctor, but dermal filler products are classified as medical devices and can be injected into the face by practitioners without a medical degree.
From next year products used for aesthetic purposes that do not fall within the definition of a cosmetic product or a medicine, including dermal fillers, may be classified as medical devices under new EU legislation.
