A woman has warned about the dangers of cosmetic treatments after alsmost losing her lips when filler injections went wrong.
Gem Wilson, 20, from Cheshire, was left with swollen and bruised lips after a lip filler procedure blocked a blood vessel.
The university student decided to get her first lip fillers at a clinic in Droylsden, Manchester on 15 May.
After the procedure, her lips swelled up, but the nurse applied an ice pack and insisted there was nothing to worry about – and that the swelling would go down in a few days.
A woman has nearly lost her LIPS after filler procedure went wrong as she warns others about the dangers of cosmetic surgery
Just hours later, Gem’s lips turned white and grey, and felt extremely painful to the touch – and she knew something wasn’t right.
She said: ‘The nurse said that I had a hematoma bruise after putting the injection in my lip once and that I had nothing to worry about and it would go down in a few days.
‘But my lip felt extremely big and swollen. It began to go white and grey so I immediately FaceTimed my parents when I was on the way home to see what they thought.’
Gem, a criminology and sociology student at the University of Liverpool, added: ‘My lips felt extremely swollen and stung a lot.
Gem Wilson, 20, from Cheshire, was left with swollen and bruised lips after a lip filler procedure blocked a blood vessel
The university student decided to get her first lip fillers at a clinic in Droylsden, Manchester on 15 May but after the procedure her lips began swelling and bruising
‘It began to feel a bit achy and the size of my lip was getting bigger and bigger. It was extremely uncomfortable.’
Gem was in excruciating pain, so her parents called 111 and an ambulance was sent out for assistance.
She was diagnosed with vascular occlusion, a condition where blood is no longer able to pass through a blood vessel in the lip.
The paramedics told Gem her condition was an emergency and the nurse from the aesthetics clinic was asked to come over with a 2mm injection of hyaluronidase hyaluronic acid, which is used to reduce tissue damage.
Just hours later, Gem’s lips turned white and grey, and felt extremely painful to the touch so her parents called 111 and an ambulance was sent out for assistance
She said: ‘An ambulance came with three paramedics. Fortunately, one knew about lip fillers and immediately diagnosed me with vascular occlusion.
‘Vascular occlusion is the most feared complication of aesthetic treatment and occurs when blood is no longer able to pass through a blood vessel.
‘This paramedic rang my injector and explained that she must come to my house to inject hyaluronidase immediately, while the other two paramedics carried out tests to ensure I was okay.
‘I was blanching and going blue around my mouth by this point.’
She was diagnosed with vascular occlusion, a condition where blood is no longer able to pass through a blood vessel in the lip
Eventually the nurse who had given her the fillers arrived at her home and she was given the injection.
She added: ‘This was excruciatingly painful and the numbing cream had worn off by now, causing this to be the worst pain I have ever experienced.
‘The three paramedics stayed for multiple hours to ensure I was okay as my heart rate was high on the first test, and they wanted to watch over my injector to ensure she was doing it correctly.’
Gem’s lips were badly bruised for over two weeks but are now back to their original size – however, she is still traumatised by the incident.
She recently uploaded a video to her TikTok page, advising users against getting lip fillers and to love their face just the way it is
She added that if others were considering lip fillers, they should be aware of the ‘major risks’.
Gem said: ‘If you are insecure about your lips, like I was, please just give it more time and try to love the way you are.
‘This has taught me a very harsh lesson, I could’ve lost tissue in my face and my lips completely if my parents didn’t act fast and ring 111.
‘But if you go ahead, then please understand and know the risks so if this happened, you would know immediately.’
Gem said the ordeal has ‘taught her a very harsh lesson’ and added that if others were considering lip fillers, they should be aware of the ‘major risks’
She recently uploaded a video to her TikTok page, advising users against getting lip fillers and to love their face just the way it is.
Her video has gained over half a million views and 37,300 likes as users praise the young woman for speaking out and warning others about the risks of the procedure
‘So sad that females feel pressure to put their selves at risk for things like filler etc. You are so beautiful before you didn’t even need that,’ one person wrote. [sic]
‘This video needs way more attention girls need to learn the risks of filler etc its so dangerous! I really home youre okay! Sending love,’ someone else added. [sic]
‘Thank you for sharing this! I know you can get a lot of backlash with stuff like this so thank you for doing it anyway and looking out for others,’ someone else added.