Several segments of the Health & Wellness industry are focussed on turning back the clock. Segments such as anti-aging, biohacking, nutraceuticals, biotesting and regenerative medicine. Fueled by the innate human desire to feel good and look good, the market is quite large, and nothing is covered by insurance (at least just yet). There is a lot of money to be made but buyers beware. While there are many incredible and effective therapies and treatments, there are many treatments and therapies that do go through the proper testing channels. Further not all providers are qualified to provide the services they provide, but they do so they can tap into the market. For example, my mother’s dental office offers microneedling and botox!?…
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH CLAIMS, AKA, MARKETING SCAMS
The market for products is completely unregulated and out of control (IMO). People make decisions based on enticing marketing campaigns, unverified product claims and paid reviews. If you dare click on a product advertisement, your analytics change and your feed becomes flooded with that product, all 5-star reviews and competitor products. There are sites like Trustpilot but it is also based on reports and reviews which can be skewed. Often the guarantees these companies provide are not actual guarantees, the fine print (if included) notes a product can only be returned if unopened. That is NOT a guarantee. Sometimes there is no fine print and you get into a battle when you want to return the product. How does one sort through the garbage?
DO IT YOURSELF
DIY has gone off the rails in terms of supplements, skin care products and home devices. DIY can also be dangerous. There are so many devices that may or may not be safe. The core of the problem is the influx of fraudulent marketing coupled with the lack of regulation. I have always been a DIY kind of person, and am really good at researching. However, it has become extremely difficult to find accurate and true information. Not impossible in all cases, but very difficult. If it is that difficult to find credible information, the product is probably not what it claims to be, right? Maybe that is a good test to go by. Then again, that is very time consuming. There are chats about many of these products on sites like Reddit, but everyone is different. Something may work for one person and not another. Also, some people are willing to take crazy risks and end up with really bad side effects. Influencers, i.e., professional product reviewers, receive products for free, so there is an underlying conflict of interest. Do some of these “influencers” provide honest reviews? Of course, but that requires time and research and everything mentioned before still stands true, i.e., the same product may not work for you.
The choice is yours but make sure you know the risks, whether a product can damage you in some way or just the monetary risk. Even though Trustpilot is not the best resource, it is a resource for the negative things about a company and should be checked. Also, realself can be a resource for some of the anti-aging procedures and providers, but that site is focussed for the most part on cosmetic surgery. Lastly, there are excellent professionals, including estheticians, that will give you their opinion on products and make suggestions that are right for you. In the current climate of dishonest reporting and marketing scams, that may be the best route to take.