In recent years, the aesthetic medicine market has been expanding. The background to this is the introduction of various new materials and devices other than surgery. On the other hand, various problems are increasing. In order to make these improvements, it is necessary to understand the problems unique to aesthetic medicine.
There are several challenges in the current state of aesthetic medicine in Japan. Because medical treatment is self-funded, administrative supervision is less lenient than in other insurance medical treatment areas. For this reason, many of the drugs and devices used in aesthetic medicine are not approved domestically, and the situation cannot be achieved without unapproved products. Additionally, there is false information in advertisements carried out to attract customers, which tends to be passed on to treatment costs, resulting in high costs. Additionally, some treatments are performed even though there is little evidence of their effectiveness or safety. In addition to these, the lack of an adequate educational system for doctors is an urgent issue. This is because medical institutions and large hospitals in Japan focus on insurance treatment, and there are few patients eligible for cosmetic treatment.
I would like to talk about issues in Japanese aesthetic medicine and recent attempts.