Aesthetics Clinic Social Media in the UK: What You Can and Can't Post

You can promote your consultations, your practitioners' expertise and good patient education. You can't advertise prescription-only medicines to the public, and that includes Botox and every other botulinum toxin, whether you name them or only hint at them.

That covers most of what UK rules say about aesthetics clinic social media. The detail matters because the line between a compliant post and an implied advert for a prescription-only medicine is often one word, one hashtag or one photo. Below are the rules, what falls on each side of the line, and a checklist to run before anything goes live.

The main rule sits in the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (the CAP Code), written by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Rule 12.12 is one sentence long.

Prescription-only medicines or prescription-only medical treatments may not be advertised to the public.

CAP Code, rule 12.12

It covers paid ads, organic posts on your own accounts, influencer content and your own website. Websites get a narrow exception for balanced, factual references inside a page that promotes a consultation, never on the homepage. Social media gets none.

The rule reflects the law: regulation 284 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 bars publishing an advertisement likely to lead to the use of a prescription-only medicine. It applies even when a registered doctor or nurse gives the treatment.

In January 2020, CAP and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued an Enforcement Notice on botulinum toxin ads on social media, aimed at more than 130,000 businesses, and CAP began using monitoring technology to find posts for removal. Persistent offenders can be referred to the MHRA or their professional regulator.

Prescription-only medicines are not only Botox

The rule covers every prescription-only medicine (POM). The ASA has ruled on or warned about several that clinics use:

• —Botulinum toxins, including Botox, Azzalure, Bocouture, Dysport and Vistabel.
• —Hyaluronidase, used to dissolve filler. In 2023 the ASA upheld a complaint about an Instagram post that named it and showed the pack, although the clinic said its aim was to warn patients about allergy risk.
• —Vitamin B12 injections, injectable biotin, steroid injections and sclerotherapy, all of which appear in ASA rulings under rule 12.12.
• —Injectable weight-loss medicines such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. CAP, the MHRA and the General Pharmaceutical Council published a joint Enforcement Notice on these in 2025.

Dermal fillers are generally not POMs, which is why they can be advertised. If you are unsure about a product, check its legal category before it appears in your marketing.

Your regulator's standards sit on top

Doctors must also follow the General Medical Council's Guidance for doctors who offer cosmetic interventions, in effect since June 2016. It tells doctors to follow CAP's codes when advertising (paragraph 47) and adds standards of its own:

• —Marketing must be responsible, must not minimise or trivialise risks, and must not claim that interventions are risk free (paragraph 49).
• —Doctors must not falsely claim or imply that results are guaranteed (paragraph 51).
• —Doctors must not use promotional tactics that could encourage an ill-considered decision (paragraph 52), and must not provide their services as a prize (paragraph 53).
• —Marketing must not target children or young people, through its content or its placement (paragraph 35).

The GMC's Using social media as a medical professional (in effect since January 2024) adds that what you share must not be false or misleading, that you must be open about interests that could influence your recommendations, and that you must follow CAP and ASA codes (paragraphs 11 and 12).

Nurses, midwives and nursing associates follow the NMC Code, which asks them to use social media responsibly (20.10) and to keep any advertising for their services accurate, responsible and ethical, without misleading or exploiting vulnerabilities (21.4).

Each of these comes from CAP's published guidance on botulinum toxin and POMs.

• —Botox or any other toxin brand name, the generic name, abbreviations and nicknames such as "Beautox" or "Brotox", including in hashtags such as #botox, product shots and vials.
• —Indirect references. "Wrinkle relaxing injections" is out even if you also offer fillers, because CAP reads "relaxing" as a reference to toxin. A 2024 ASA ruling found that a discount on "cosmetic injections", listed separately from the clinic's fillers, advertised a POM without naming it.
• —"Anti-wrinkle injections" if you only offer prescription-only treatments. CAP sees this as an implied ad for a POM. If you also offer fillers it can work as a collective term, but not as "anti-wrinkle injections and fillers", which signals toxin, and never next to a price for a POM.
• —Price promotions on prescription-only treatments, such as "20% off", "buy two areas, get one free" or refer-a-friend deals. CAP's view is that these advertise the POM even when it isn't named.
• —Before and after photos of toxin patients. CAP treats them as visual claims for a POM, with or without a caption. Presenting a toxin result as a filler result is misleading as well.
• —Endorsements and recruitment that point to a POM. Health professionals and celebrities must not endorse medicines (rule 12.18), and in 2023 the ASA ruled against a Facebook post recruiting models for Botox and vitamin B12 injections.

Pressure, prizes and promises

These apply to every cosmetic treatment, prescription-only or not.

• —Urgency tactics. CAP's cosmetic interventions guidance says countdown clocks and lines such as "Hurry, offer must end Friday" should not be used, and offers must leave people reasonable time to decide.
• —Treatments as prizes. A toxin treatment can never be a prize, because the giveaway itself advertises a POM, and the GMC bars doctors from offering any of their services as a prize. CAP doesn't ban prize draws for non-prescription treatments outright but expects them to be responsible: the ASA ruled against a social media lip filler giveaway that gave no age limit or terms.
• —"Risk free", "safe", "easy" or guaranteed results. CAP warns against calling cosmetic interventions safe or easy, because all carry some risk. The GMC bars doctors from calling treatments risk free or implying guaranteed results.

The rule is about prescription-only medicines, not aesthetics in general, and a clinic has plenty to say outside it. Our guide to aesthetics clinic social media post ideas has examples you can adapt.

• —Consultations. CAP accepts wording such as "a consultation for the treatment of lines and wrinkles", including on social media, provided the post doesn't point to a POM directly or indirectly. Make it clear that a medical assessment comes before any treatment.
• —Practitioner expertise. Introduce the people who treat patients: their qualifications, training, experience and how they assess suitability. Keep proof of any qualification you mention and describe it accurately.
• —Education and aftercare. Skin health, choosing a practitioner, what a consultation involves, realistic recovery times, warning signs after treatment. Keep it general and balanced, and never a route to a named POM.
• —Clearly labelled non-prescription treatments. Dermal fillers, chemical peels, microneedling and similar treatments can be promoted. Call fillers "dermal fillers" or "cosmetic fillers" so the post can't be read as toxin. Claims still need evidence.

Before and after photos of non-prescription treatments are allowed. CAP treats them as claims about what a treatment can achieve, so they need the same evidence as any written claim.

• —Genuine and representative. The photos must show real patients who had the treatment advertised, with results a typical patient can expect. Proving a photo is genuine isn't enough: you also need evidence for the result it implies.
• —No filters or retouching. Don't apply beauty filters, smoothing or editing to the treated area, and don't give one image an advantage the other lacks, such as better lighting, make-up or a kinder angle. The ASA has ruled that filters which exaggerate a product's effect are misleading, and a "results may vary" caption doesn't fix a misleading image.
• —Signed and dated proof. Hold signed and dated proof from the patient that the photos are genuine, and keep the unedited originals so you can show what, if anything, was changed.
• —Explicit consent. The GMC tells doctors not to share identifiable patient information on social media without explicit consent. We recommend a separate marketing consent form that says where the images will be used.
• —Label the treatment. If the photo shows filler, say so. If the patient also had toxin in the area shown, the safest course is not to use the photo.

Since 25 May 2022, CAP rule 12.25 has applied to all cosmetic intervention marketing.

Marketing communications for cosmetic interventions must not be directed at those aged below 18 years through the selection of media or context in which they appear.

CAP Code, rule 12.25

The term is broad. CAP's guidance lists dermal fillers, injectable skin treatments, chemical peels, microneedling, laser and light treatments, permanent make-up and teeth whitening alongside surgery. Skincare products classed as cosmetics fall outside it.

For social media, your own website and influencer marketing, CAP's guidance says these ads must not appear in media aimed at under-18s, or in media where under-18s make up 25% or more of the audience. In practice:

• —Set paid campaigns to reach over-18s only, and age-restrict organic posts where the platform allows. In a 2023 ruling on sunbed ads, the ASA noted the business could have targeted its organic TikTok posts away from under-18s and hadn't.
• —Check the audience data of any influencer or creator before you work with them.
• —Avoid themes, sounds and references aimed at teenagers, such as prom or exam season.

For two treatments the law goes further than the advertising rules. In England, the Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021 made it an offence, from 1 October 2021, to give botulinum toxin or filler injections for cosmetic purposes to anyone under 18, or to make arrangements such as a booking for one. The exception is treatment approved by a doctor and given by a registered doctor, nurse, dentist or pharmacist.

Swaps for common captions and visuals. Adapt the wording, and only describe practitioners and treatments you actually offer.

If any answer is no, change the post or leave it out.

If a post sits close to the line, CAP's Copy Advice team offers free, confidential advice before you publish. The MHRA's Blue Guide explains the medicines law that sits behind rule 12.12.

Last updated: October 2026.

This is general guidance, not legal advice.