This headline appeared today, March 24, 2018, in De Telegraaf.
It's not without reason that the Dutch government has the slogan "Be careful. Making yourself more beautiful can turn out ugly. A successful procedure starts with a good doctor". A lot can go wrong if you are not treated by a good doctor who provides clarity about the products he/she uses.
Cosmetic procedures regularly lead to serious medical complications ’I regret it so much’
The quest for a more beautiful body or face too often ends in suffering. More and more Dutch people – especially women – resort to Botox or filler treatments, only to draw a painful conclusion afterwards: ’How could I have ever started this...?’
Fillers, injected directly into a blood vessel in her upper lip. 'Ms. C., 31 years old from South Holland' looks as if she was hit by a strong fist. Her lip is swollen, pulled crooked, and shows a large, dark-colored bruise. "I'm ashamed of my appearance," says the administrative assistant emotionally. She is willing to talk, but without mentioning her first or last name, let alone a photo of her face. "Absolutely no recognition!" she emphasizes in the cautious conversation.
She just wanted fuller lips, Ms. C. For enhancement. But the end result is a (temporary) disfigurement that caused her much misery and sadness in recent weeks. "I thought I had registered for a reputable cosmetic clinic for a filler treatment. But the opposite turned out to be true. The filler was injected incorrectly, and it also hurt a lot. The result was a huge open wound on my lips, followed some time later by pain in my gums.
Yesterday, she reported for a check-up at the three-day complication consultation hour for cosmetic surgery at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. Ms. C. is one of the five hundred 'serious complications' annually following unprofessionally performed cosmetic treatments, both domestically and abroad. This figure pertains to botched filler treatments and disfigurements due to incompetence. Fillers that sometimes turned out not to be real fillers…
Rotterdam dermatologist Peter Velthuis explains: "Recently, I saw a Dutch patient who supposedly received a filler injection in Lebanon. That treatment was apparently cheaper there than here. He subsequently developed bumps everywhere and came to us with complaints. It turned out they had injected him with a substance that should be applied on the skin."
Lisette, now 29, wanted more curves. Fuller buttocks, so to speak. She got them after being treated by 'a Colombian lady in Scheveningen,' to whom she was referred by an acquaintance. "That was the biggest mistake of my life," she says now. "That filler was supposed to be temporary, but it's been six years now, and I still have daily pain. It started with a bump in my groin. I don't know what that lady injected. She said hyaluronic acid, but it's certainly not that! It was supposedly something like silicone."
Bumps, resembling a string of beads, have spread over her body, now causing pain in her back, ankles, and toes, as well as a 'numb' feeling. "I'm so terribly ashamed, I feel so stupid. How could I have ever started this?!" Tom Decates, a cosmetic doctor and researcher in Rotterdam, explains: "Look, this is what happens: the shame is immense. I've had women in my consultation room who tearfully said: 'My mother advised me against doing anything to my appearance. I wish I had listened. I regret it so much...'
Together with three colleagues, Dr. Decates is trying to make a first step towards, what he calls, 'clearing the fog' in this murky sector of aesthetic enhancements that sometimes turn into disfigurements. Next Monday, a publication by them will appear in the scientific journal Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. It will provide insight into the total scope of cosmetic procedures in the Netherlands.
Why? "Because this way, we can ultimately map out how often things go wrong," states Decates. "In other medical disciplines, we know exactly how many operations take place and how often something goes amiss. With those figures, you can calculate the risk of such a procedure. The big problem in this sector is that no one in the world can tell you that now. We soon will."
In 2016, there were 390,000 filler and Botox treatments in the Netherlands. In 2017, the 400,000 mark was significantly exceeded, according to the authors of the article – researcher Linde de Wijs, head of dermatology department prof. dr. Tamar Nijsten, dermatologist dr. Peter Velthuis, and cosmetic doctor Tom Decates. The latter hopes to obtain his doctorate on the study in 2020.
Ultimately, this cosmetic inventory should, according to the physician-researchers, lead to clarity in the Netherlands regarding "the rogues, the cowboys, and the reliable practitioners."
The suffering is considerable, they say. "Patients who, instead of becoming more beautiful, now go through life disfigured. Who no longer dare to leave the house, or only go out with a very large scarf around their head. These patients go through hell after being injected with bad fillers or even a type of plastic in the backroom of a tanning salon or at the hairdresser's."
The Dutch Association for Cosmetic Medicine (NVCG) welcomes the desire to unravel the sector. Chairwoman Catharina Meijer: "The NVCG, in collaboration with the government and other medical disciplines, is committed to improving quality in the cosmetic sector. We have already made good progress, including the development of a recognized training program for cosmetic doctors. Currently, a procedure is also underway with the College for Medical Specialties for title protection of the cosmetic doctor profession, so that patients can trust that a cosmetic doctor is genuinely competent for these procedures."
Source: De Telegraaf, March 24, 2018
Bart Biermans is a cosmetic doctor and founder of The Body Clinic. After studying medicine at Utrecht University, he started one clinic in Amsterdam, which under his leadership has grown into a leading organization with multiple locations in the Netherlands and Germany. With over 20 years of experience in injectables, Bart has developed a clear vision on natural aesthetics, balance, and harmony. Although Bart now only sporadically treats patients, he plays an important role in coaching the doctors within The Body Clinic. He transfers his years of experience by guiding doctors in the same refined working method he developed himself: subtle improvements that suit a person's face, without it being visible that a treatment has taken place. Bart encourages his team to work with small, thoughtful adjustments and to prefer a refined follow-up rather than doing too much at once. In this way, he safeguards natural aesthetics and the preservation of facial expressions as core values within the entire organization. In addition, as director, Bart is closely involved in medical quality, strategic choices, and the further growth of The Body Clinic. His vision on meticulousness, natural results, and realistic aesthetics continues to form the basis of how the clinic operates and grows to this day.
