Dr Rosemary Coleman, Dermatologist

TEN YEARS AGO I was in private practice as a dermatologist. That’s still the case today, but a lot has changed in the field. At the beginning of the decade I was essentially doing an entirely different job. Now I can offer treatments that didn’t exist back then. But the biggest change over the last decade is in the attitude of the public. Ten years ago people were very private and embarrassed about looking for treatments such as Botox; initially, lots of people got it done abroad so no one would know.

Now more people are going to their GPs and saying they’re not happy with their skin, and asking to be referred to a qualified practitioner. Before, they’d never have dreamed of saying this to a GP, but now they realise that making the most of yourself is nothing to be embarrassed about. They’re much more open and relaxed – getting rid of your frown is like having your hair dyed. In the last two or three years I’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of men looking for treatments. They often look for laser treatment for broken blood vessels that give them a red face.

Nearly everyone who comes to see me says they don’t want surgery, and in fact I believe far less cosmetic surgery is being performed these days because there are now lots of alternatives. One of the biggest technological developments is a filler called Sculptra. Ten years ago very few fillers were available, and those that were tended to be quite painful. Sculptra is called the liquid facelift and it gives a lovely softness and roundness to the face without any pain – I recently gave it to woman in her nineties.

I use many cosmetic treatments with my medical patients. I had a patient with a scar on her face this morning – we treated her with a filler, laser and Botox to flatten it out, take out the redness and stop the abnormal tugging when she moved her face. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have been able to do any of those things. And back then I could do almost nothing for patients with severe acne scarring. Now we can radically improve their skin.

Unfortunately, government regulation hasn’t kept up with these developments. There is almost no regulation in the cosmetic industry in Ireland – the consultants I know see plenty of people who have been burned by lasers and incorrectly treated. That needs to change in the future.

In conversation with Anna Carey