Following on from our last blog post about an 18 year old, Lauren Winstanley, who was hospitalised after a lip filler disaster (read ‘Lip fillers disaster for hospitalised teenager’), this week we share a similar report about a 34-year-old dentist from Bristol whose lips turned to ‘rock hard blue lumps’ after a filler procedure went horribly wrong.
Sarah Najjar had always admired other people’s ‘pillowed pout’, especially as she thought hers were becoming deflated, and paid £300 for lip fillers to emulate the desired look as a 30th birthday treat. During the procedure, Sarah was injected one millilitre of filler.
Afterwards, Sarah experienced some swelling but assumed it was a normal reaction. A week later, however, her lips were ‘very lumpy and uneven’ with ‘huge blue lumps’. She returned to the beauty therapist who’d first performed the surgery and was advised to have more filler injected to even them out. A further course of one millilitre of filler ensued.
With two millilitres of filler injected in the space of just two weeks, things went from bad to worse. Sarah’s lips became badly swollen and ‘rock hard’.
In hindsight, Sarah acknowledges that she didn’t research sufficiently, which was out of character, before having the work done. She wasn’t aware of the potential risks and complications, and readily admits it was ‘cheap for a reason’. Keen to reverse the damage, Sarah researched extensively and found that hyaluronidase injections can break down hyaluronic acid, the ingredient used in most lip fillers.
Sarah visited a dermatologist and paid £700 for an injection of hyaluronidase. Despite a slight allergic reaction to hyaluronidase, which was treated with antihistamines, her lips thankfully began returning to normal after two days, aided by Sarah massaging her lips to remove the lumps.
Keen to prevent others going through a similar trauma, Sarah decided to train in facial aesthetics at London’s Harley Street, and is now qualified to perform injectable fillers. Her ethos is to ensure patients fully understand what will happen and potential side effects during an enforced 24-hour cooling-off period before the procedure is undertaken.
Worryingly, lip fillers are often carried out by unskilled beauticians in an unsterile, non-clinical environment using unlicensed products. Such individuals can’t adequately deal with complications that may arise including having an inability to prescribe medication.
If you’re considering dermal fillers, heed Sarah’s warning and research thoroughly at the outset by scanning lists of accredited practitioners recognised by the Department of Health and NHS England. Be wary of those with cheap offerings and know what to do if you react adversely to treatment.
The latter – treatments gone awry – may well involve instructing a reputable law firm to pursue a legal claim for compensation. At Beauty Treatment Claims, this is our area of expertise. It’s our role to progress your case with those responsible for harm caused to you.
To find out more on what we do and to request our support, email enquiries@beautytreatmentclaims.co.uk, call 0800 141 3682 from a landline for free, phone 0333 202 6560 from a mobile or complete our online enquiry form.
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