Why We Don’t Share Photos
By Linda Mather (Lead Nurse & Director)
4 minute read
I thought I’d use today’s blog to shine a light on something we’re often asked: “Why don’t you share before-and-after photos on social media?”
This question came up again today after a patient mentioned something they’d seen online. It made me reflect on how often I hear misconceptions from patients—things they’ve read or watched on social media, presented as fact.
The Problem with Social Media “Advice”
It’s an interesting phenomenon. Imagine telling a firefighter how to put out a fire because you saw a video on TikTok. Or advising a lawyer on how to win a case because someone on Instagram said so. It wouldn’t happen.
Yet in aesthetics, it’s surprisingly common for people with no medical or clinical training to share advice—often confidently—that can be misleading, or even unsafe.
Let’s go with the firefighter analogy. If I read online that spinning a hose anticlockwise is the best way to fight a fire, I might believe it—because I’m not a firefighter, and I wouldn’t know any better. But if I try it and the hose pulls the fire towards me instead, well… that’s a painful way to learn I shouldn’t have trusted a social media reel.
Seventeen Years of Expertise, Not Instagram
The truth is, I haven’t trained to fight fires—but I have spent the last 17 years training, learning, researching, and working full-time in medical aesthetics. This isn’t a hobby, a trend, or something I picked up online. It’s my profession. I didn’t learn it from “Digital Dolly” on Instagram.
Why You See So Many Aesthetic Photos Online
Social media is flooded with glossy photos of freshly-injected lips and faces, often taken under ring lights while patients are still lying down, shiny balm applied for extra impact. These images are designed to attract attention—but they’re not always representative, and they come with serious ethical and legal concerns.
The Legal and Ethical Risks of Sharing Photos
Consent is one issue. Just because someone says “Yeah, you can use my photo,” doesn’t mean that consent covers future use, platform changes, or context shifts. It’s a legal and ethical grey area—and one I’d rather not expose my patients to.
Regulations are another. In the UK, it’s illegal to advertise prescription-only medicines (POMs), and this includes using language or images that could be seen as incentivising them. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has clear guidance and even helpful videos on what is and isn’t permitted. We follow these rules strictly—because protecting patients matters more to us than chasing likes.
Ethics Over Algorithms
So, in short, we don’t share patient photos, and we don’t incentivise treatments involving prescription-only medicines. We operate ethically, professionally, and always with your best interests at heart. That means staying current, avoiding fads that distort natural beauty, and working within the law—always.
Your Face Is a Privilege, Not a Marketing Tool
If you’ve chosen to trust me with your face, know that I honour that trust by keeping you safe. That’s my priority. It always has been.
And to any firefighters reading this—apologies if I’ve got the hose-spinning analogy completely wrong! I’m not a firefighter, so I wouldn’t dream of telling you how to do your job. Just like you probably wouldn’t tell me how to do mine.
As always, if we haven’t met yet, I hope to connect with you in the future—and if we already know each other, I look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you for continuing to trust the Chamonix Clinic with your care, your time, and most importantly, your face.
Linda xxx
