A MUM who botched her DIY facial filler makeover has slammed an online firm for failing to adequately warn unqualified customers about self-injecting. Part-time careworker Kelly Milne, 26, bought filler for her cheeks and lips, but ended up in agony in A&E with “lumps and a big abscess from an infection”. Kelly, a mum-of-three from […]
A MUM who botched her DIY facial filler makeover has slammed an online firm for failing to adequately warn unqualified customers about self-injecting.
Part-time careworker Kelly Milne, 26, bought filler for her cheeks and lips, but ended up in agony in A&E with “lumps and a big abscess from an infection”.
Kelly, a mum-of-three from Hadleigh, Suffolk, told The Sun Online that she “wanted to look nice and like people on Instagram, but the fillers made me look worse.”
She bought Princess Filler Lidocaine from Fillerworld – where it’s promoted as helping to “smooth out wrinkles the pain-free way”.
After receiving it nearly a fortnight ago, Kelly – who has no qualifications to carry out cosmetic procedures – injected the filler in both cheeks and lips.
It cost her £42 for the product, which she said was “cheaper” than getting it done by a qualified practitioner.
It was very painful. I swelled up. My face was really inflamed – it was quite a severe reaction. I was in really bad pain.
Kelly Milne
She explained: “I wanted to use it, but didn’t know the risk. I ended up getting a really bad reaction to the product.
“I thought I’d be alright because I used a filler, not the same one, in my lips, a year ago.”
Unfortunately for Kelly, a few days later her cheeks were covered in large red lumps, and she had a “big abscess from an infection.
“It was very painful. I swelled up. My face was really inflamed – it was quite a severe reaction. I was in really bad pain. My face felt so tight.
“I couldn’t even wear makeup – I was depressed, and my children were upset. They asked ‘are you OK mum?’
“I was also really ill with vomiting and diarrhoea, and flu-like symptoms.”
Kelly went to A&E at Ipswich Hospital, where she was examined by a dermatologist.
She prescribed antibiotics and told her that she would need to have treatment to have the lump of filler removed from her right cheek – which is “filled with pus” – and reverse the damage.
To have this done privately would cost her £400.
Kelly contacted The Sun to warn others against buying cosmetic chemicals online and self-injecting them without being properly trained.
She said: “I regret doing it.”
Kelly wants the website to make it clearer that you “have to be qualified to use them.
“I want to warn young girls – don’t do what I did. There’s no point in taking that risk.
“They shouldn’t be selling it to just anyone. They shouldn’t have sold it to me. My face is really inflamed. I was really ill.”
Kelly said that she phoned Fillerworld to complain and “tell them off, but they said it wasn’t their fault.
“I wanted to make other young women aware – don’t do what I did.”
She has to return to hospital for further treatment, as her face is still sore.
The Sun Online has contacted Fillerworld for comment.
On its website there is a warning, saying: “We advise our products should only be administered by licensed healthcare practitioners after purchase.”
However, upon clicking on a cosmetic chemical for purchase, you have to scroll right to the bottom of the page, past the product’s description, and pictures of what else customers have bought, to find the warning itself.
It’s also at the bottom of the site’s blog posts – which customers may not click on to read.
In a post about “fillers and their miracle transformation” it says the “great thing about fillers, they can be used by people from all walks of life for personal self-esteem and for medicinal reasons.
“It’s truly justifiable, all we’re doing is replacing the lost hydration and hyaluronic acid that was once there.
“However, there are still individuals who would love to use fillers, but too hesitant to try.
“Yes, there are side effects which are true of many treatments. But these side effects, such as swelling and redness do diminish within a week. Side effects are not permanent.”
People are buying cosmetic chemicals online, including Botox, and self-injecting them, without being aware of the risks.
Some watch tutorials online, while others take pot-luck.
Dr Lara Devgan, a Manhattan plastic surgeon, told the New York Post: “Facial anatomy is incredibly complex.
“The risks include tissue death, permanent blindness and disfigurement.”
She explained that many facial fillers are injected into what’s described as the “danger triangle” – the area around the mouth and nose.
The Post warns that this area is anatomically complex, and “the wrong procedure can impact the brain.”
Devgan said that even videos by professionals on the correct use of injectables can be misleading.
She added: “Social media and the Internet have made injectables look so easy.
“But the technical aspects of these procedures require extensive knowledge of tissue behaviour and anatomic relationship.”
Those who self-inject can expect to pay up later, when real surgery might be required to reverse the damage done.
In an interview with The Sun Online two years ago, Professor Ash Mosahebi, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in London, said: “A filler is like injecting a paste.
“And if that paste somehow goes into the blood vessel that connects to the retina at the back of the eye – which is where you see the world through – it can lead to blindness.
“It is unusual, uncommon and unlucky, but if it is not done carefully it can happen.”
The doctor warned that fillers can be bought over the counter and injected by unqualified practitioners or even people at home.
He added: “I have seen horrendous infections in the face where patients have ended up in [intensive care] with a life-threatening infection.
“If it is not done in a proper way, in a clean environment, it causes infection.
“We are seeing complications more and more because [fillers] are getting more popular.”
Dermal fillers are injections used to fill out wrinkles and to plump up the volume of the lips and cheeks.
They contain a variety of ingredients such as collagen and hyaluronic acid, a substance that occurs naturally in humans to help keep certain body parts such as they eyes and skin hydrated.
These fillers can have a temporary or permanent effect.
