Skinxiety: BCAM President Identifies New Pandemic Phenomenon

SKINXIETY is a new worldwide phenomenon identified by British College of Aesthetic Medicine (BCAM) President Dr Uliana Gout - a term referring to people’s anxiety about their appearance caused by pandemic issues such as ‘maskne’ and ‘Zoom face’.

Dr Gout coined the term to highlight the problem that she and other global aesthetic clinicians are seeing in their clinics since restrictions were lifted. The rise in requests for non-surgical treatments such as chemical peels, lasers and injectables has been observed and relates to the phenomenon of ‘Zoom Face’, ‘maskne’ and the high levels of stress suffered by many which in turn have impacted on general skin health.

Dr Uliana Gout

Dr Gout states: “The past year has been tough for everyone for many reasons, and in clinics we’ve seen a real surge of patients who have serious concerns about their skin. Worries about open pores, congestion, spots, blemishes, and pigmentation are significantly affecting their wellbeing and in turn they are seeking professional help. This is a welcoming sign for our specialty as we have long been advocating the public to seek medical advice when it comes to looking after the biggest organ in our body - the skin.

“Skinxiety is a new phenomenon, it’s not something we’ve seen to this extent before and there’s a direct correlation between patients’ concerns about their skin and the pandemic.”

Dr Gout took over as President of BCAM just before the pandemic hit and much of its work has been focused on supporting the College’s 400 members through a challenging time by working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and key stakeholders within the UK arena. In addition, BCAM launched its 20th Anniversary Mindfulness and Wellbeing Initiative to support members with their holistic wellbeing and mental health.

Dr Gout said: “This has been an unprecedented time in BCAM’s history and members have looked to us for practical guidance and emotional support. We are proud to be one of the first in our sector to spearhead and offer mindfulness and wellbeing resources because we recognised the huge pressure everyone has been under.

“Many of our members returned to the NHS frontline, helped with the vaccination programme or faced issues with their own clinics so our support was crucial. We are enormously proud of our members! As we celebrate our 20th anniversary this year with the relaunch of our logo and website, we are looking forward to collaborating with the consumer press and the public to further the understanding and education of what aesthetic medicine as a specialty means today.”

BCAM trustee Dr Bhavjit Kaur, who is leading on the wellbeing initiative, said: “All of these issues are closely linked. Stress can severely impact the skin and can be the cause of acne outbreaks, so it’s important to treat the person as a whole and get to the bottom of the cause.“BCAM’s 20^th Anniversary Mindfulness and Wellbeing Initiative was launched as a response to the increased pressure on our members and the stress they have been encountering throughout the pandemic. We wanted to offer them holistic support with a variety of online resources and Zoom meetings.”

 

Dr Bhavjit Kaur                  Dr Aggie Zatonska

Trustee Dr Aggie Zatonska, who looks after BCAM’s international memberships, said: “This is now recognised as a worldwide problem and we need to understand how the pandemic has impacted our patients’ mental health and wellbeing. Our appearance has been under intense scrutiny over the past year with the increase in virtual meetings and many people have been left feeling low about how they look.”

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