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

In the pursuit of ideal beauty, women are sometimes willing to take risky actions. For example, turning to an unverified beautician who promises temptingly plump lips, quickly and without unnecessary questions. The victims of such a beautician are the heroines of a new episode of the show «What Have I Done» (16+) on the TV channel «Friday». The girls faced severe 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 turned not to some unqualified practitioner, but to a beautician 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 substance was used for the procedure, what method — I didn»t care back 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 needed more,« recalls Ksenia.

A year later, the girl went to augment her lips again. The severe consequences appeared much later, after seven years.

«Under my lip, first a small blister formed. And it gradually started to grow, grow, grow. It increased by a millimeter per year. I thought, well, it will go away. But it didn»t. Then constant inflammations 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,« says the show»s heroine.

As a result, Ksenia has been battling the consequences of unsuccessful cosmetology for 15 years. During this time, not only did bluishness form around her lips, but she also lost sensitivity — the girl can no longer distinguish hot from cold.

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

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

Aishat is from Dagestan. In her homeland, provocative appearances of girls are frowned upon. Nevertheless, local beauties follow 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» together with her friend. And later, from the same friend, she learned that they were 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 fine with my lips,» recalls Aishat. «I felt that something was happening to my body, my temperature rose, weakness, constantly wanting to sleep, severe swelling appeared.»

Doctors state that getting rid of vaseline is very difficult. It is literally a time bomb for the body. Removing the material is incredibly complex: 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 eventually took on saving the girl, said that he opened both of Aishat«s lips. The first results, where sensitivity returned, lasted only six months. 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 (about $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 could help remove the vaseline from the body. But nothing similar exists in Russia yet.

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