Women ending up in ICU because of beauty trend: What happens
A beauty trend that harms facial skin has been named (photo: Freepik)
Beauty injections have become so popular that some people are now trying to perform them on themselves. Cosmetologists warn that at-home procedures using Botox or fillers can lead to serious complications and the need for medical assistance, Allure reports.
Danger of administering injections at home
Plastic surgeon Theda Kontis shared a story about a patient who injected filler into her lips at home. She had been doing injections on herself for years and ran into trouble. She hit the main artery in her lip with a needle and interrupted blood flow, which led to problems.
The woman was treated with hyaluronidase (an injectable drug that dissolves hyaluronic acid). The patient admitted she had purchased the filler online.
"Neurotoxins with weird trade names, stuff I’d never heard of, not the usual protocol. The scary thing about that is, what are these products? Where are they coming from? Are the fillers really hyaluronic acid? Are they sterile? People shouldn’t be doing this. It is extremely dangerous," the doctor said.
Dr. Laura Garcia-Rodriguez, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon, said she had treated numerous complications from at-home injections, including a lump the size of a marble from failed DIY lip injections.
One patient developed a dime-sized wound on the tip of her nose, all the way down to her cartilage.
"The worst patient I've seen injected her forehead with something—you never know what you get on the internet—and the whole right side of her forehead was dark and purple and painful. It was a vascular issue—the area was oxygen deprived for a week. Sometimes nerves comes back, but sometimes they don’t. You can really mess up your face permanently, like completely disfigured," she added.
What products to choose
The alarming rise in counterfeit injectable products poses a serious threat to patient safety. It’s important to use an injectable product approved by the FDA and available only by prescription.
In addition, if you inject filler into the wrong place, you could paralyze a muscle, causing it to become inactive. A filler can embolize (block) a blood vessel.
A blocked coronary artery can lead to a heart attack. In other cases, interrupted blood supply to tissues can lead to complications such as permanent blindness, necrosis (skin death), and scarring.
How to know if the filler was injected correctly
To understand whether a filler (such as hyaluronic acid) has been injected properly, pay attention to several signs.
Visual result
Changes should not be too noticeable or unnatural. The face or treated area should remain symmetrical.
The skin surface should be smooth, without bumps or indentations.
Sensation after the procedure
There should be no severe pain. Mild soreness or swelling may occur in the first few days, but there should not be sharp pain.
The filler should distribute evenly; small bruises are possible but should disappear within a week.
Skin reaction
Mild swelling may occur in the first 1–3 days. If there is redness that does not go away or if heat appears, it may be a sign of infection.
Professional follow-up
Within 1–2 weeks, it is advisable to visit a cosmetologist for a follow-up to assess the result, perform corrections if necessary, and ensure that healing is progressing normally.
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical diagnosis or self-treatment. Our goal is to provide readers with accurate information about symptoms, causes, and methods of detecting diseases. RBС-Ukraine is not responsible for any diagnoses that readers may make based on materials from the resource. We do not recommend self-treatment and advise consulting a doctor in case of any health concerns.
