Look Before You Leap - Safety in Cosmetic Medicine

Welcome to Difficult Conversations About Beauty, a podcast hosted by Anita East — author of the book Beautiful Unique Faces and a Nurse Practitioner with a special interest in dermatology, primary care, non-surgical cosmetic medicine, women’s health, and nutritional medicine.

This podcast explores the science, psychology, and social impact of beauty through honest and evidence-based conversations.

Before we begin, please note that the information shared in this podcast is intended for general educational purposes only. It does not replace personalised medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every individual’s health needs are unique, and listeners are encouraged to seek guidance from a qualified health-care professional who understands their personal medical history.

If medicines or prescription-only products are discussed in this episode, that information is intended solely for registered health-care professionals and is provided in accordance withAHPRA and TGA regulations. These discussions are not advertisements, endorsements, or recommendations for use.

By continuing to listen, you acknowledge that Difficult Conversations About Beauty provides professional discussion and education — not direct clinical advice.

In this episode, I’m chatting with Bronwyn Granata from AMET about safety in non-surgical cosmetic medicine.

With an 18-year background in aesthetic medicine spanning the globe, Bron has worked in management within pharma companies. As a Registered Nurse, Bronwyn Granata is perfectly placed to set up AMET with co-founder Elena Currie.

AMET, which stands for Aesthetic Medical Emergency Team, is the first of its kind in
Australia. Offering 24/7 support for all aesthetic practitioners, AMET is all about
complication prevention and management. So many complications that arise in aesthetics are avoidable; however, even the most experienced practitioner will still encounter adverse events. So much so that Bron and I discuss the latest research demonstrating that one in three practitioners will encounter a vascular occlusion or VO in our careers.

At a recent conference in Sydney, almost every practitioner I spoke to had experienced a VO. Since Bron and I have both experienced the horror of a VO, the likelihood of it happening seems much higher than 30%. Bron and I go into candid detail, about the moments we both realised that our patient was experiencing a VO. We discuss the harrowing timeline of events that followed and how we overcame the situation. Again, not to scare our listeners but of paramount importance is your clinician’s knowledge and the support available to them not if but when they experience any adverse event.

Dermal fillers, anti-wrinkle injections, and all treatments bring a level of expected sideeffects and risks, such as pain, redness, bruising, and swelling. But there are more serious adverse events for patients to be aware of, too. For example, lumps, bumps, infections, pain escalating to vascular occlusions, skin necrosis, blindness, stroke, and death.

As practitioners, we have a duty of care to inform our patients of these possible risks and side effects. Thankfully most people only ever encounter very mild effects, such as a bit of pain at the injection site or bruising. However, we must inform you about all possibilities. JUST IN CASE.