There’s growing tension in the cosmetic industry and here’s why.
The pandemic in Greater Sydney has caused a cascade of emotional and political turmoil. Each and every business has been affected deeply by the recent outbreak, but some have decided to take advantage of this situation and I’m here to finally shed light on this issue.
Since the initial announcement of the latest covid lockdown in June, most cosmetic clinics have done the right thing by unfortunately closing their doors yet again for the unforeseeable future. The repercussions of this has been devastating not to mention the financial and mental toll it has taken to keep your business afloat. However, there is a major loophole in the system.
To paint a picture, most clinics are owned by either a Medical Practitioner, Registered Nurse or an Independent Stakeholder. Until now, the playing field has been pretty even. Registered Nurses have been well respected for their passion and dedication to cosmetic injectables as well as Doctors who have a advanced skill set and the ability to perform more invasive procedures. However, if a clinic is owned or led by a Medical Practitioner a technical loophole exists in which anti-wrinkle injections can be performed for the treatment of medical conditions i.e migraines, hyperhidrosis and bruxism. To make things incredibly frustrating, these clinics who continue to remain open advertise on their social accounts that the restrictions do not apply to them and even have influencers with a large following promoting this. It gets worse. There are videos circulating amongst the industry of these clinics performing lip filler treatments behind closed doors and the authorities have been notified yet there is nothing they can do to shut them down.
Although I would love nothing more to name and shame these unethical clinics in this blog post, I’m not looking to get myself into a defamation lawsuit so I am going to discuss this topic from a general point of view. In addition to this, as a discretion not every doctor-led clinic remains open and the majority are doing the right thing.
So why is keeping a cosmetic clinic open during stage four restrictions unethical? Here are my thoughts:
Cosmetic Injectables are a non-essential service. I know some people would argue differently and as as business owner I would love nothing more than to remain open but now is not the right time.
Public Hospitals have paused all elective surgical cases. The NSW government has also called on all Private Hospitals to also pause elective surgery to free up resources and help the front-line staff battling the delta strain. So why do these clinics think they are superior and any different ?
Covid case numbers are rising every day and the stay at home orders are in place for a reason. The less people we have roaming around the community for non-essential reasons the less risk of possible covid transmission. Can you imagine if your a client who has booked in for a non-essential cosmetic procedure at one of these clinics and are exposed to covid. I can imagine it already, the media would have an absolute field day about it and shred not only the clinic but the individual to pieces.
Finally, it is an absolute slap in the face to the professionals in the cosmetic industry doing the right thing by remaining closed. The clinics who are taking advantage of this loophole is cashing in BIG time as they currently have near to no competitors and desperate clients who aren’t willing to wait.
To sum it up, if you are a client thinking about making a booking in these unethical clinics for a non-essential service please re-consider and show your support for the professionals who choose to do the right thing. I know there are many clinics who are waiting anxiously to re-open their doors, myself included and we need nothing more than loyal clients to help us move on from this tragic circumstances. Personally, I have a new found respect for my colleagues who have made the ethical decision to remain closed during this time and it has exposed the clinics who are willing to do anything for financial gain.
