The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued three separate rulings against aesthetic clinics which had been advertising sclerotherapy treatments.
On April 26, the ASA released three rulings against clinics and salons which had been advertising treatments for the reduction of visible veins to the public.
The first clinic, based in Kirkby, posted a Facebook advert explaining, ‘Sclerotherapy involves injecting a solution directly into the vein. The sclerotherapy solution causes the vein to scar, forcing blood to re-route through healthier veins. The collapsed vein is reabsorbed into local tissue and eventually fades.’ This was accompanied by before and after images. The second, based in Eastwood, posted another Facebook ad with a similar explanation and images, as did the third London-based salon.
The first clinic stated that ‘The ad had been posted to their Facebook page by an independent practitioner of sclerotherapy, who was not employed by their organisation, but had trialled running sessions from a room in their salon.’ The other two clinics declined to comment.
The ASA ruled in all three cases that the advertisements were in breach of advertising restrictions as they were promoting a prescription-only procedure, as sclerotherapy treatments require a prescription medication to be performed.
All three clinics have agreed to remove the advertisements and not disseminate anything similar going forward.
