“My face was simply ruined”, the excesses of cosmetic surgery in young adults

We therefore no longer necessarily wait to have wrinkles to be retouched. Those under 35 now represent half of the patients of the leading aesthetic medicine group in France, when they were only 5% 12 years ago.

Among these patients, mostly women, who notably ask for fuller lips. This is what Mahéra, 24, a student in Val-d’Oise, wanted. She went to see a plastic surgeon, 8 months ago, “because when I saw myself in the mirror, I found that my upper lip was a little smaller than the lower one. I know it’s natural, everyone has it, but I wanted to redo the hem, just to see if I liked it a little more“, she admits.

“It’s the fact of having seen several girls, friends, redo their lips… I think that unfortunately, today, it’s a fad. It was above all a whim”

A “caprice” billed 500 euros for two hyaluronic acid injection sessions, very fashionable in cosmetic surgery practices and whose effects fade after a few months. These young women also ask to redesign their nose, have volume to their buttocks, or, more classically, to their breasts.

Adel Louafi, who chairs the national union of restorative and aesthetic plastic surgery, sees a double effect of social networks: “On the one hand because of the influencers who conveyed a new image for the body with more generous shapes, in particular for the buttocks. And then because of the filters on social media, which young people tend not to tell the difference between a filtered image, which is smooth, perfect, and the real image.

According to this specialist, some end up wanting to be in reality, like their image retouched by apps. However, this presumed effect of social networks on the physical also responds to an offer more suited to young people, with the development of aesthetic medicine that is less intrusive than surgery. No need, therefore, to go to the block for injections or laser.

Another innovation in the sector: specific products for young people. “‘Baby botox’ is prevention botox that is started a little earlier between the ages of 28 and 30. It’s exactly the same treatment, with a more marketing name that was launched for young people, details Tracy Cohen Sayag, who heads the Clinique des Champs-Élysées group, a leader in the sector. The average basket is 300 euros on average for 18-25 year olds. We have also set up payment facilities. In medicine, this is very rare. And then, we have prices, too, which are more advantageous on 18-25, like laser hair removal for example. The problem with our industry is that there is always an emphasis on excess.”

Driven in particular by this rejuvenation of the patient base, the sector is doing particularly well. Tracy Cohen Sayag plans to open ten new clinics before the end of the year. But doctors are not the only ones to take advantage of this craze: others are doing it illegally. In France, only doctors have the right to perform injections for aesthetic purposes. However, fake professionals also do it, often at knockdown prices, in a suburban apartment. Sometimes, some play another card: they offer the same services at high prices in apartments rented on platforms such as AirBnb, in chic districts of Paris. This is what happened to Ana, 33, who paid 2400 euros for a failed clandestine injection.

“I had partial facial paralysis, and then I couldn’t smile without my eyes closing. My face was just ruined. She asked me for 600 euros to repair the damage: I refused and then consulted another practitioner who told me that I had been injected with a low-end product, which my body had rejected. In addition to that, I learned that she had severed my nerves”, she describes. After “an obstacle course“, Ana was finally able to find her “original faceThis case is not isolated: a hundred similar reports were made to the police last year, with sometimes serious complications, such as necrosis with amputation of part of the lip, nose or buttock.

We then tried to reach a beautician, accused of illegal injection by a client, whose cheeks were deformed. The discussion fell short:

– franceinfo: We can see ‘injection of hyaluronic acid’ in third position on your Instagram profile, in particular.

– Beautician implicated : “Sir… Already, I’m not at the police station there. All that is social networks, it is not managed by me. And I do not offer this type of service at all.“

– We have testimonials from people who say you gave them injections.

– “Oh good ? Listen, frankly… There, I am currently performing“, she explains before hanging up abruptly.

The National Union of Plastic, Restorative and Aesthetic Surgery has filed or joined in about fifteen complaints. He asks for better supervision of the sale of hyaluronic acid in order to limit these clandestine injections.