Lip Fillers Gone Wrong

Warning. Graphic content.

Written by Anita East.

Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Director at Anita East Medispa in Queensland, Australia.

 

Twenty-two year old Amy couldn’t believe her luck. On the train home from work, her phone beeped. Amy’s friend had tagged her and a group of their friends, in an Instagram post for a lip special in the Gold Coast.

 

The advert read

“End of Financial Year Special. Get the luscious lips that all of your Insta favourites have, without the price tag.” “Only $395 instead of $550 for 1ml” “Tag 5 friends and if you all have treatment, you all get a free lip flip too”. “Don’t want the full 1ml? No problems, just bring a friend to your appointment and split the syringe between you.” “Only available for the next 2 weeks.” “Get in quick, only available while stocks last.”

Social media influencers with big lips all look so happy!

They had secured their appointments via an Instagram message and were given the salon address. Amy and her friend arranged to take the following Friday off work and travel the two hours to their appointment. Amy was so excited. Her lips weren’t bad, in fact they suited her face perfectly. Her face – sweetheart shaped, her eyes big and bright, her cheeks wide and pronounced, her mouth small with petite and nicely formed lips to match. Her face complete, with a lovely pixie like chin that acted like an exclamation mark that drew your eye back up to her big beautiful eyes. But as Amy scrolled through Instagram on her phone, which she did frequently, all she saw was luscious, big lips. All the influencers Amy followed who had lip fillers, were happy and loving life. Amy wanted to look like them and feel like them. Amy wanted bigger lips too.

 

The lip treatment was so quick.

In the salon, the gaggle of voices distracted Amy from the pain she felt when the needle went into her lips. It was a hair salon and there were a lot of people everywhere, even lining up on the footpath to get in. Although Amy and her friend booked their appointment for 1pm, they didn’t have their treatment until 3pm. The treatment area was actually the staff lunch room, so salon staff and various people came in and out while Amy had her lip fillers. It was someone’s birthday, there was cake and the nurse laughed, sang happy birthday and was fed cake while she injected Amy’s lips. Amy declined any birthday cake herself.

 

The woman, doing the treatment had introduced herself as a nurse. She’d told Amy the lip special was so popular that she’d needed to order more product in. Her supplier sent it from overseas and it arrived that very morning, hence the rush of people. Amy didn’t ask what product the nurse was using. She didn’t want to make a fuss. There were so many people everywhere, she felt a bit embarrassed when she winced the first time. She swallowed down the uneasy feelings she had. Fifteen minutes later she was paying her $395 and walking past the line of girls gushing over her and her friend’s new lips.

 

 

I’m scared something has gone wrong.

Amy started to bruise on the drive home. Her friend didn’t. Amy had a restless night. Her top lip and nose ached painfully. She was told she might be sore for the next day or two, so she took pain killers and tried to sleep. When Amy looked in the mirror the following morning, the skin between her top lip and the bottom of her nose was bruised. Amy messaged her friend. Her friend was just leaving the gym. She had no pain or bruising and suggested Amy call the hair salon. Amy couldn’t find a number to call so she sent an Instagram message with a photo of her lips. Amy didn’t receive a reply. The pain got steadily worse. She lay in bed with ice on her top lip and nose.

 

After Amy had spent a couple of nerve wracking hours googling her symptoms, she posted a message on the Instagram page of the salon where the special was first advertised. She asked if someone could get in touch with her as she was worried something was wrong. She didn’t receive a reply. Later that day, Amy managed to track down the salon’s phone number from a neighbouring shop. She called them and was told the nurse wasn’t there. She’d flown back home to Sydney last night and they didn’t have her number as it was organised all through Instagram messages by a woman who knew their boss. They didn’t know anything about Amy’s treatment but one of the hairdressers had really bad bruising and pain too, and it settled a few days after her treatment. They were sure Amy’s would too.

 

 

It hurt too much to cry.

Three days after her treatment it was Monday, and Amy’s top lip and nose was so painful and swollen that she had to call in sick to work. It actually looked like the top layers of skin were starting to peel off. It hurt too much to cry, so Amy tried not to.

 

Amy contacted a medical cosmetic clinic near where she lived and told the receptionist her story. The receptionist asked her to send some photos through to their mobile number, which Amy did. Ten minutes later, Amy received a call from the Clinical Director asking her to come in immediately. Within minutes of Amy arriving, the Clinical Director a Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner, injected a high dose of product to dissolve all the dermal filler in her lips. Amy was told she had a vascular occlusion which was leading to tissue necrosis. It needed to be fixed immediately, otherwise Amy was at risk of not only permanent scarring but the loss of her top lip and nose. Amy’s throat tightened, she thought she might pass out.

 

 

I nearly lost my nose.

Within fifteen minutes the pain in Amy’s nose and lip started to go. The skin around her top lip and nose started to pinken and the blueish tinge faded. Amy was told she was very, very lucky. Blood supply was now getting to where it had been blocked off. Amy and all the clinic staff were very happy but this was only the start. Amy stayed in the medical cosmetic clinic for two hours. The Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner and clinic staff checked on her regularly. She returned four hours later to have more dissolving treatment. Amy was started on antibiotics and she returned to the clinic for the next two days for further dissolving treatments.

 

 

“I would never have treated your lips.”

Amy noticed that the medical clinic’s lip fillers were $550. As she looked in the mirror at her face she told the Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner that she wished she had gone there in the first place for her lip fillers. She was told that given Amy’s eyes were the outstanding feature on her face, the Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner would not have treated Amy’s lips but further enhance her beautiful eyes with a treatment that cost $100 and at most, some medical skincare to reduce a couple of her acne scars. Amy was speechless.

 

The Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner did not charge Amy for any of the dissolving treatments or care that she gave her over the three days. She said she was so happy that Amy had been brave enough to call them and ask for help. They both teared up when they compared the photos of Amy on Monday to her face after the dermal filler was gone and her skin was less swollen, mottled and blue. The Cosmetic Nurse Practitioner was relieved that she was able to reverse Amy’s necrosis.

 

After three days, Amy was well enough to return to work, but the skin had broken down into a crusty wound that covered her whole top lip, the skin above her lip and the tip of her nose. Amy was too embarrassed to see her work colleagues and boss, so she called in sick for the whole week. She went to see her GP and cried throughout the appointment. She sent her Sick Certificate to her boss.

 

 

3 months later.

It is September, three months since Amy jumped on the ‘end of financial year lip special’. She has spent thousands of dollars on surgical treatments, laser and creams to reduce the scarring. Her skin will never be back to where it was before she had the lip fillers. She is likely to have permanent scarring and residual pain forever.

 

Amy is starting to get through the emotional hurt of her ordeal, but her self-confidence is in tatters and she sees a psychologist once a fortnight.

 

The ‘nurse’ who did Amy’s lip filler treatment was never tracked down and the hair salon where her treatment was performed, denies any responsibility.

 

Sadly this story is based on real events, however the names have been changed to protect all involved.

 

 

How you can protect yourself.

ALWAYS do your research. Ensure the person performing your treatment is a registered medical professional. Do not be lured into seeing people who are not medical professionals simply because you might save some $$, because guess what, the amount you will spend to fix your face afterwards, will be so much more than what you thought you are saving.

 

In Australia check AHPRA for details of your medical professional to ensure they are registered. In the UK, only ever visit a medical professional. In her  time in office, Theresa May vowed to tighten regulations around cosmetic medicine in the UK. We hope this promise is upheld with the current government.

 

Do not ever be afraid to ask your injector what their qualifications are and if they have full professional indemnity insurance. Your injector should be proud to tell you all the extra training they have undertaken to enable them to treat you. They should never shirk from your questions.

 

And lastly, as Amy wishes she did, always, always, always follow your gut.

 

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