"I Couldn't Speak": Russian Women Nearly Disabled by Lip Fillers

In pursuit of ideal beauty, women are sometimes willing to take risky steps. For example, they turn to an unverified cosmetologist who promises seductively plump lips, quickly and without unnecessary 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 grew a huge lump under her lip, and the other lost the ability to speak.

Ksenia from Moscow is a blogger. She got caught up in the trend for 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 turned not to some back-alley practitioner, but to a cosmetologist at a reputable clinic in central Moscow. But that didn«t protect her. However, as Ksenia admits, for the first few years after the procedure, there were no health problems. She liked the effect of plump lips.

«What drug was used for the procedure, what method—I wasn»t worried about that then. No one warned me about possible consequences and reactions. I liked everything. And very soon I got so used to the new look that it started to seem—my lips were too small. I need more,« recalls Ksenia.

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

«At first, just a little bubble formed under my lip. And it gradually started to grow, grow, grow. It increased by a millimeter every year. I thought, well, it will pass. But it didn»t. Then constant inflammation of the mucous membrane began: it was impossible to drink hot tea, there was even a reaction to toothpastes. Pain appeared. Taking a bite of an apple became a big problem,« the show»s heroine says.

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

Ksenia went back to the same clinic, but they did not 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 augmentation.

Aishat from Dagestan, a region in southern Russia. In her homeland, a provocative appearance for girls is frowned upon. Nevertheless, local beauties keep up with cosmetic trends. Her friends at work insisted on lip tuning: they convinced her that this harmless procedure would improve her appearance. And Aishat listened.

She went «for lips» with her friend. And afterwards, she learned from the same friend that they had been injected with an uncertified substance—medical petroleum jelly. 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 it, because at first my lips were fine,» recalls Aishat. «I felt that something was happening to my body, my temperature was rising, weakness, I constantly wanted to sleep, and severe swelling appeared.»

Doctors say that getting rid of petroleum jelly is very difficult. It is literally a time bomb for the body. Removing the material is incredibly difficult: 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,» says Aishat.

The surgeon, who soon took on the task of saving the girl, said that he opened both of Aishat«s lips. The first results, when sensitivity returned, lasted only six months. Then the girl returned to the clinic again—the petroleum jelly 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.

Complicating Aishat«s situation is that her body reacts very aggressively to petroleum jelly. Her lips continue to swell until her face is completely distorted. Only strong hormonal therapy helps to cope with this, and it cannot be overdone.

The girl has had to undergo many operations, spend more than half a million rubles (approximately $5,500 at current rates), but she has not yet been able to completely get rid of the problem. She still faces a long recovery. Doctors suggest that a special Brazilian drug might help remove the petroleum jelly from the body. But in Russia, nothing like that exists yet.

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