Warning over DIY botox jabs
Vain Brits are putting their lives at risk by buying DIY Botox kits online and injecting themselves with the drug at home.
Experts say users are also in danger of paralysis and even blindness – as the muscle-freezing toxin can stop eyeballs moving.
Medics say the risk is higher when novices give themselves the wrinkle-smoothing jabs.
Rising numbers of cash-strapped Britons are ordering the home kits for around £100 instead of forking £250 to £300 for surgery treatment.
Buyers learn how to inject themselves using crude instruction sheets or by following videos posted online.
Clinic group Transform, based in Manchester, has seen a 57 per cent rise in the number of patients seeking treatment after botched Botox since 2007.
Over a third had bought the drug online and 83 per cent of these had self-injected.
The clinic’s Gwen Davies said yesterday: “Buying Botox off the internet is very dangerous, bypassing the procedures which are in place to protect the public.”
In the US there have been 16 deaths linked to Botox, which can spread to vital organs and shut them down, and also trigger anaphylactic shock.
Ms Davies said injecting Botox in the wrong place can also lead to droopy eyelids, breathing problems, inability to smile and difficulty eating and drinking.
Botox is a prescription-only treatment in the UK, but there are more than 5,000 internet sites offering the drug – mainly based in Russia and the Far East.
