Injuries relating to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures (all ages)

Frequency : In 2006, there were 223 cases of injuries relating to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures to persons of all ages identified on the Victoria Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD). Age: Injury cases peaked in older adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 years (35%). The frequency of these injuries steadily declined from age 25 years (Figure 1).

Source: VEMD, Jan – Dec ‘06

Figure 1: ED presentations of injuries relating to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures by age groups

Gender: Females were over - represented in ED presentations (80%).

Cause: The most common beauty procedures that resulted in injury were waxing, accounting for nearly half of the cases (40%), followed by piercing (17%), hair dying (11%), nail polish (7%) and tattoo (6%). Botox (0.5%), beauty products (0.5%) and tanning (1%) injuries were less common. However this may only reflect the popularity of some beauty treatments compared to others.

Nature of injury: The most frequently occurring injury diagnosis was burns, occurring in 44% of all cases. The equal second most common injuries were eye injury and foreign body-related injury, each accounting for 13% of all injuries (Figure 2).

Body region: Injuries relating to beauty products and processes were predominantly to the upper extremity (36%) and the head (15%). Lower extremity and multiple injuries accounted for only 3% and 2% of injuries, respectively. In 26% of cases, the body region injured was not specified (Figure 3).

Figure 2: ED presentations of injuries related to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures by type of injury	Figure 3: ED presentations of injuries related to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures by body region injured

Location: More than half of the injuries relating to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures occurred in the home (58%) and 9% in a trade/service area.

Discharge status: Ninety-six percent of people with injuries relating to beauty and appearance enhancing procedures were discharged from the ED to home. About 2% of the injuries were severe enough to require hospitalisation.

Further information: Further information is available from the following websites:
Department of Health and Ageing and the National Industrial Chemical Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS):
www.nicnas.gov.au/Current_Issues/Cosmetics.asp
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC):
www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/323594