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Straight-talking articles on cosmetic procedures, appearance pressures, informed consent, and the realities behind treatment decisions.
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6 May 2026
4
min read
BDD Screening in Aesthetics: The False Safeguard With Serious Legal Implications
A form sitting in the patient file is not a safeguard — it is a document, and that document has legal consequences. Once a questionnaire becomes part of the clinical record, it becomes part of the evidence in any subsequent dispute. When that happens, the practitioner is no longer defending a claim about consent or outcome. They are defending a psychological assessment process they were never trained or qualified to run, and the questions that follow are not comfortable ones.
29 Apr 2026
3
min read
Informed Consent in Aesthetic Practice: Insurer Expectations vs Practice Reality
Informed consent in aesthetic practice has developed its own meaning. For most aesthetic practitioners, it is a combination of verbal explanation, practitioner judgement that the patient appears to understand, and a signed consent form. That process is not experienced as inadequate. Practitioners generally approach consent from a duty of care perspective: they feel they are on the same page with the patient, they have covered the key points, and the signature confirms agreement.
27 Apr 2026
5
min read
Why I Stopped Talking to Practitioners About Patient Mental Health Safeguarding
I came into the medical aesthetics industry as a patient. A few years ago I had the same cosmetic surgery twice because nobody told me about Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) or mentioned psychological risks, nobody explained that I might not see the change, and nobody warned me that my mental health could get worse afterwards. It did, and it was one of the darkest periods of my life. When I eventually understood what I had been through and why, I wanted to use my lived experience to make sure...
23 Apr 2026
3
min read
Psychological Risks of Cosmetic Procedures: The Consent Gap the Industry Won't Talk About
Cosmetic patients are warned about scarring, swelling and allergic reactions. Why are the psychological risks of cosmetic procedures still left out of consent? BDD is estimated to affect somewhere between 19% and 24% of cosmetic surgery patients. That is roughly one in five. It is associated with poor satisfaction after treatment and poor psychological outcomes. It is not a remote possibility to be noted in passing.
22 Apr 2026
5
min read
The ‘I Know My Patients’ Myth: Lessons from the Lynn G v Hugo Case
Lynn G v Hugo is a case with huge implications, yet it has largely gone unnoticed. Practitioners remain unaware of it, despite the fact that it dismantles some of the very assumptions they tend to rely on. "I know my patient, I would have picked up on it." People have a tendency to think "this could never happen to me"- until it does.
21 Apr 2026
3
min read
Aesthetics Regulation Won’t Fix This Industry. Insurers Might.
The aesthetic industry does not have a regulation gap. It has a regulation illusion. Rules exist, guidance has been issued, membership bodies have published standards, and the sector has continued largely as before. The party with the genuine power to change that is not a government body or a professional association. It is insurers, and most of them have not yet used that power in any meaningful way.
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