14 DAY TRIAL // When she was 17 years old, Xiao Lian from the Gansu region in China worked as a shop assistant. Her boss told her one day that her gaunt face made her look like a beggar, which wasn’t good for business, so she thought getting fillers might help her look less poor.
Xiao Lian visited a clinic to see how much the procedure would cost and was heartbroken to realize she could not afford it, the Daily Mail reports.
A friend of hers told her of another clinic that also did fillers for a fraction of the cost, so she gave that one a try as well. She didn’t even think for a second that the clinic and doctor might not have a license.
For several days, she received injections to the face and was initially pleased with the results. The woman says she always hated the thinness of her face, so she was happy now that it looked plumper.
By 2009, she started noticing changes in the shape of her face.
“Her face began to swell unnaturally. Her eyes, nose and other features started changing shape. By 2013, her face had become very swollen, her eyes had drooped and her hair was falling out,” the Mail writes.
Xiao Lian went to the doctor and learned that the filler that had been injected into her cheeks was actually “hydrophilic polyacrylamide gel,” which was once used for breast implants but has been banned because of its high toxicity.
“She is now undergoing corrective surgery at a cosmetic center in Guangzhou,” the Mail writes but her case isn’t looking too optimistic because of the long time the filler spent inside her body.
Her case should, however, highlight the importance of getting all procedures, whether surgical or not, at a licensed clinic, after proper research.
The number of backdoor interventions of this type is on the rise and, in many of them, the women who think they’re saving money by going down this route, will actually pay more later in life to fix the intervention – not to mention the emotional and physical cost of such an experience.
