A recent BBC investigation has revealed that two — now disgraced — male nurses have been staging botox parties in homes and beauty salons. A botox party is a small gathering of men and women who receive botox treatment en masse.
What is botox you ask? It is a neurotoxin that is injected into the face or body that helps to smooth and temporarily freeze muscle contractions. Over the years, researchers have found the benefits of botox to outweigh the negatives. Like microdermabrasion, the procedure is minimally invasive and inexpensive, providing almost immediate cosmetic results for those who get it. Additionally, it’s proven to provide relief for both migraines and excessive sweating.
But unfortunately, the two nurses’ botox parties went awry, with clients of one man, Jonathan Henk, claiming they left the suaree in severe pain and discomfort.
While Henk describes himself as a nurse, the man had been relinquished of his license in 2012 after molesting a mental health patient. Now, Henk has been prescribing botox to people — a right and responsibility only relegated to registered practitioners.
Diane Roberts was one of Henk’s patients. After the injections, the 52-year-old woman complained that she had been left with horrible headaches and saw no improvement in her appearance. She believes that the subtance she was injected with was not botox.
“It felt like someone had put an axe in the middle of my head. It was horrible,” she said. “I’m concerned as to what was being injected because I thought that Botox had an instant effect.”
BBC sent an undercover reporter to one of Henk’s botox parties in order to uncover the ugly truth. And even after he was confronted, Henk admitted his wrongdoings but conceded that he had to make a living somehow.
He also denied knowing that patients experienced anything but the benefits of botox. Meanwhile, many of them were like Diane and experienced terrible head pain.
While it is illegal for someone without a medical license to procure botox, it is currently legal for an untrained person to injet botox in England. However, many are now advocating to change this rule.