Contact: Lisa Doty
847-956-0900, ldoty@asds.net

CHICAGO, IL–New trends in do-it-yourself beauty treatments are becoming increasingly popular among consumers while causing great concern among physicians.  Most recently, products for procedures that should be done in a physician’s office -- such as chemical peels, skin bleaching kits and tattoo removal “formulas” -- have become widely available to consumers for purchase directly online through several Internet Web sites.  These products, which should only be used with the supervision of a trained medical professional, have the potential to cause serious skin damage, infection, severe scarring or even death.  

As a result of this increasing dangerous trend, the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) is leading education efforts about the safety of cosmetic procedures by offering warning signs to consumers before they undergo any type of skin procedure either at the hands of an unqualified practitioner or before attempting to use at home beauty treatments.  The ASDS hopes to raise awareness about the many potential dangers “do-it-yourself” skin procedure products and the potential irreversible damaging effects of at home or unsupervised beauty treatments gone wrong.

Ranella Hirsch, M.D., an ASDS spokesperson, says “It’s scary to think that consumers are able to purchase products online that can yield permanent damage.  Even more startling, there is no guarantee to consumers that the products they are purchasing actually include legitimate chemicals, since there is little or no regulation for the sale of these purchases.”

A new study released by the ASDS indicates that more consumers are experiencing complications as a result of treatment by untrained, unqualified practitioners.  The survey of ASDS members reveals some of the most common complications they’ve seen in patients are from laser hair removal (19.9%), chemical peels (13.8%) and filler injections (13.1%).  Even more alarming, more than 90 percent of respondents indicated they had seen at least one patient over the past year who had skin cancer that was either overlooked or misdiagnosed by an untrained practitioner.  In fact, the misdiagnosis of skin cancer was the most common complication seen by the respondents.

Unfortunately, the warnings came too late for Terri, a woman from Pittsburgh, who requested a Mother’s Day gift for laser hair removal.  The actual gift she received was second degree burns, swollen legs and permanent skin discoloration.  It was determined that she was hit with the intense laser light 777 times – all of which caused burns so severe that her skin turned purple and blistered immediately.  Prior to Terri’s lawsuit, there were minimal regulations in place in her state to prohibit unqualified technicians from performing cosmetic procedures.  

“You would never think to perform a root canal on yourself, why would people consider giving themselves a chemical peel with acid potent enough to eat right through the skin?” says Dr. Hirsch.

Dr. Hirsch and the ASDS offer the following tips when considering a cosmetic procedure:

• Make sure a dermasurgeon is onsite:  Procedures should be performed by a board-certified dermasurgeon specifically trained to treat the skin.
• Check credentials:  Just because there are diplomas on the walls doesn’t mean they’re legitimate.  A patient should check to see if a physician is board-certified in dermatology and check with their state medical board to see if any complaints have been filed against this person. 
• Pricing:  If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.  If a procedure costs significantly less than usual, ask yourself why.  Your face is no place to go bargain shopping.

For more information or to speak with an ASDS member about this issue, please contact Jen Bender at 203-325-8772 x17 or jbender@environics-usa.com.