What to Ask Before Anyone Injects Your Face

Most people research the treatment thoroughly. Far fewer research the person holding the needle, which is the variable that actually decides the outcome.

This is not a warning piece. It is the list of things we would want a member of our own family to ask, including if they were asking us.

The part most people are surprised by

In England there is currently no specific legal requirement governing who may carry out non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as dermal filler. The House of Commons Library puts it plainly: there are no specific controls on who can offer them. Voluntary registers exist, but joining is a choice rather than an obligation.

A licensing scheme has been consulted on and the government has said it intends to proceed. At the time of writing it is not in force.

There is one meaningful exception. Botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine. It has to be prescribed by a qualified prescriber, for a named patient, after that prescriber has assessed the patient in person. Someone without prescribing rights can still administer it, but they cannot prescribe it, so it is entirely reasonable to ask who did, and whether they met you.

That also explains a practical difference you may have noticed. A prescriber can hold stock and treat you on the same day as your consultation if you are happy to proceed. A practitioner who cannot prescribe has to arrange a separate prescriber assessment first, which is why some clinics ask you to come back another day.

Seven questions worth asking

What is your medical qualification, and are you on a public register?

A GMC, GDC or NMC number can be checked online by anyone in under a minute. Ask for it, and check it.

If you are injecting a prescription medicine, who prescribed it, and did they assess me in person?

Remote prescribing for cosmetic injectables falls below the standard expected of prescribers. A vague answer is itself an answer.

Who do I call if I am worried about something at eleven o clock at night?

You want a name, a number, and a person who will actually pick up. Aftercare is part of the treatment, not an optional extra.

Do you keep hyaluronidase on site?

For anyone injecting hyaluronic acid filler this is close to non-negotiable. It is what reverses the product, both in the rare event of a problem and in the far more common event of you simply changing your mind. It is also the reason we use reversible hyaluronic acid filler exclusively, for lip filler and every other area we treat.

What is your indemnity arrangement?

Every practitioner treating the public should hold appropriate indemnity. It is a fair question and a straightforward one to answer.

What are my alternatives, including doing nothing?

A consultation that only ever ends in a treatment plan is a sales conversation. You should hear about the options that make the clinic less money, including waiting.

Have you ever turned someone away for this treatment?

If the answer is no, ask a follow-up question.

What doctor-led should actually mean

The phrase gets used loosely, so it is worth defining. Every treatment at Mindful Aesthetics is carried out by Dr Haroon Ashraf, a GMC-registered doctor who works in aesthetics full time and teaches injecting technique to other practitioners. Not supervised by. Not overseen by. Carried out by.

We spell it out because the distinction is frequently blurred elsewhere, and because it is the thing you are actually paying for.

What a good consultation feels like

Unhurried, and mostly questions at the start. Medical history, medication, what you have had done before and when, and what is genuinely bothering you rather than what is on the price list.

You should leave understanding what is proposed, what it costs, what recovery looks like and what the realistic outcome is. You should not feel pushed toward a deposit, and you should be comfortable going away to think about it. A treatment worth having next week is still worth having next month.

On price

Injectables are not a category where the cheapest option is a bargain. Correcting a poor result, or managing a complication, costs consistently more than the original treatment, and a small number of things cannot be fully corrected.

That is not an argument for paying the most. It is an argument for knowing what you are paying for: who is treating you, what they are using, and what happens if it does not go to plan.

Under-18s

It is a criminal offence in England to administer botulinum toxin or cosmetic fillers to anyone under eighteen for cosmetic purposes. Any practitioner offering it is breaking the law.

Asking us the same questions

Everything above applies to us too, and we would rather you asked. Our frequently asked questions cover most of it, our lip filler in Reigate page sets it out for the treatment we are asked about most, and anything they do not, Dr Haroon will answer at consultation. We see patients from Reigate, Redhill, Merstham, Dorking, Banstead, Leatherhead, Horley, Caterham and across Surrey, and the first appointment is a conversation rather than a commitment.