'I lost my face': Study links cosmetic filler injections to infections
The case of the woman who "grew a horn on her head" and of another who suffered severe facial infections are just two of the bungles in cometic filler procedures which have been revealed in a new study.
The research by Macquarie University in Sydney has linked the procedures to serious and chronic infections.
A Sydney plastic surgeon responsible for the study now wants a register to keep track of fillers used and the doctors who carry out procedures.
The research has been released after a 35-year-old woman died after a botched breast implant procedure at a Sydney beauty salon last month.
Botched filler jobs are leaving patients distraught with one claiming she "lost her face", the research shows.
The victim will require surgery where her face will be cut from ear to ear and her forehead peeled back to remove a filler that has left her with a misshapen face, News Corp reports.
The 47-year-old had a permanent filler and Platelet Rich Plasma injected into her face.
She has since had to spend more than $25,000 to correct the damage that started with a small pink dot and eventually developed, leaving her face swollen and red.
The doctor who provided the treatment to her allegedly refused to see her again, leaving her to attend hospital emergency departments.
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“He didn’t agree it was his mistake,” she said.
“No-one would accept me, they directed me to emergency,” she said.
The woman spent a year on antibiotics and has been left with an unsymmetrical face after four surgical procedures.
“I had a pretty face, I lost my face, I lost the left side of my face,” she said.
She now needs a facelift to rebuild her face.
Macquarie University Plastic surgeon Professor Anand Deva, whose research has linked cosmetic fillers to serious bacterial infection, says he wants an electronic patient register to keep track of the fillers used and doctors who carry out such procedures.
“We are facing a perfect storm in the cosmetic industry where demand is insatiable, driven by social media and celebrities and it is being met by completely unregulated providers,” he said.
“We can ride the wave, the boom and make money and drive fancy cars or we can say this is still medicine and the health of people is at stake."
Professor Deva's research, which reports on five patients, tested several elements of the cometic fillers including hyaluronic acid, polyacrylamide and poly-l-lactic acid and found they all supported bacteria growth.
He said doctors and clinics who use the products should be required to note the type of filler used on a patient's mobile phone in a special passport app.
He said fillers must be regulated and treated as if they were a surgical implant.
It's said that Australians are now spending over $1 billion a year on cosmetic procedures.
