Dr Aarthi Sinha

A GP has called for better regulation of aesthetic treatments with a warning about botched, and sometimes dangerous procedures being carried out by unqualified practitioners.

Dr Aarthi Sinha, a former senior partner at an Islington GP practice, gave a talk last week at Lauderdale House, Highgate, raising awareness about a booming industry.

The 38-year-old said she was concerned for women and men who may be treated with low-grade products that look good initially but “sag” and “droop” in later life.

With aesthetic treatments like Botox and lip filler becoming more and more mainstream, she called for a new system where procedures are overseen by a practising doctor.

She said: “My view on it – from a completely medical standpoint – is that there are a lot of practitioners out there who haven’t a clue where and what they are doing. When people go to a beauty salon and get Botox, most people are getting something from the black market, which is pretty scary. They may be getting something plastic, not medical grade.”

Dr Sinha said there had been a surge in people wanting bigger lips due to the popularity of billionaire model Kylie Jenner, but that most people sought aesthetic treatments to build self-confidence. And it’s not just the women seeking a lift. Dr Sinha said men were often injected to create a “more masculine-looking square jaw”.

She said: “People’s perceptions about these kind of treatments are changing, it’s getting more routine – and I just want it to be done in a safe way. “I think it needs to be viewed as another medical treatment that is done by a registered doctor. It needs to be considered as a branch of medicine, prescription-only.”

For facial treatments there are three main “lines”: above the forehead, between eyebrows and around the eyes. Millimetres make all the difference.

Dr Sinha said: “When you put Botox into these lines, if you put it too far down for example, it stops pulling the muscle down. This can lead to things like brow drop.

“Some lip filler is reversible, but even then there has still been a trauma to the face. There is no guarantee you will go back to how you looked before. And they often don’t. With a botched Botox, the biggest thing is the psychological effect.”

She spoke about a woman whose face had been over-filled that had “created insecurities where they don’t exist”.

As a GP, she said she was able to diagnose mild depression in another woman who was not eating properly but was seeking cheek filler, adding: “At that point, we didn’t proceed any further.”

She said: “I work in the NHS. That’s where my passion comes from. For me, it’s not about being in Harley Street or having celeb clients. I’m interested in prevention.

“I get a lot of people coming in who want something done to their face. I say to them ‘you don’t need this as there are lots of things you can do without having it. You can pick things up early, that will make a real difference for you later down the line. Often there is a big, big picture to sort out. The face is the end point of that.

“It’s quite unique concept in the industry — practising both from the clinical and aesthetic side.”

Dr Sinha was senior partner at the Sobell Medical Centre and later Highbury Grange Medical Practice, both in Islington. Now she works three days a week as an NHS GP and the rest of the time at the private clinic that is attached to her surgery, the Church Crescent Medical Practice in Whetstone.

Dr Sinha said she owed her pioneering spirit to her nine-year-old daughter, Anita.

She said: “My background, well it was a bit bog standard. But then I had a child with a diagnosis of autism, and it turned my world upside down.

“Until you have lived life through someone like that, there’s a lot of pressure to be a certain way and conform and behave in a certain way. Now I go out of my way to help people.”