‘I Couldn’t Speak’: Russian Women Nearly Disabled After Lip Fillers

In pursuit of ideal beauty, women are sometimes willing to take risky actions. For example, turning to an unverified cosmetologist who promises temptingly plump lips, quickly and without extra questions. The victims of such a cosmetologist are the heroines of a new episode of the show «What Have I Done» (16+) on the TV channel Friday. The girls faced harsh consequences after being injected with an uncertified substance. One developed a huge lump under her lip, and the other lost the ability to speak.

Ksenia from Moscow is a blogger. She fell for the trend of big lips. She herself explained that perhaps it happened due to a lack of love. She always felt she wasn«t good enough.

The girl didn«t turn to some back-alley practitioner, but to a cosmetologist from a reputable clinic in central Moscow. But that didn»t protect her. However, as Ksenia admits, for the first years after the procedure, there were no health problems. She liked the effect of plump lips.

— What kind of substance was used for the procedure, what method — I wasn«t concerned about that then. No one warned me about possible consequences and reactions. I liked everything. And very soon I became so accustomed to the new look that it started to seem — the lips were too small. Need more, — Ksenia recalls.

A year later, the girl went to enlarge her lips again. Severe consequences appeared much later, after seven years.

— Under my lip, first a small bubble formed. And it gradually started to grow, grow, grow. It increased by a millimeter per year. I thought, well, it will pass. But it didn«t. Then constant inflammation of the mucosa began: it was impossible to drink hot tea, there was even a reaction to toothpastes. Pain appeared. Biting into an apple became a big problem, — the show»s heroine says.

As a result, Ksenia has been fighting the consequences of botched cosmetology for 15 years. During this time, not only did blueness form around the lips, but sensitivity was lost — the girl stopped distinguishing hot from cold.

Ksenia went back to the same clinic, but there they didn«t remove all the material. As a result, her upper lip became deformed, and the hernia remained.

The consequences were even worse for the second victim of lip enlargement.

Aishat from Dagestan, Russia. In her homeland, a provocative appearance for girls is frowned upon. Nevertheless, local beauties follow cosmetic trends. Lip tuning was insisted on by friends at work: they convinced her that this harmless procedure would improve her appearance. And Aishat listened.

She went «for lips» together with a friend. And afterwards, she learned from the same friend that they had been injected with an uncertified substance — medical vaseline. The girl immediately felt anxiety, she understood that the consequences could be serious. She didn«t have to wait long for them.

— I didn«t want to believe it. And at first I didn»t believe, because initially everything was normal with the lips, — Aishat recalls. — I felt that something was happening with my body, my temperature rose, weakness, constantly wanted to sleep, severe swelling appeared.

Doctors assert that getting rid of vaseline is very difficult. It is literally a time bomb for the body. Removing the material is incredibly complicated: it spreads, it is very toxic, and a tumor can form in its place.

— I had such swelling that I couldn«t even drink from a glass. I couldn»t speak, — Aishat says.

A surgeon, who soon took on saving the girl, said that he opened both of Aishat«s lips. The first results, where sensitivity returned, lasted only half a year. Then the girl returned to the clinic again — the vaseline had grown.

— If the upper lip was in normal condition, then necrosis began on the lower one. If nothing is done, it will lead to the person being left without lips, — the doctor said.

Aishat«s situation is complicated by the fact that her body reacts very aggressively to vaseline. Her lips continue to swell to the point of complete facial distortion. Only strong hormonal therapy helps cope with this, which cannot be overdone.

The girl had to undergo many operations, spend more than half a million rubles (approximately $5,000 at current rates), but she hasn«t been able to completely get rid of the problem yet. She still faces a long recovery. Doctors suggest that a special Brazilian drug might help remove vaseline from the body. But in Russia, nothing similar exists yet.

Doctors regularly have to deal with the consequences of unsuccessful lip enlargement. What medics don«t find in their patients» tissues — from sunflower oil to live larvae. Therefore, doctors recommend thinking carefully before deciding on such procedures.