Sometimes we decide to make changes to our appearances that are a little more permanent than just a fresh wardrobe or new hairstyle. While minor cosmetic procedures might seem like quick and easy fixes, they’re not something to take lightly, as one woman found out.
Rachael Knappier is now warning people to be cautious after her botched lip filler procedure caused her lips to swell up to quadruple their size.
Rachael felt scared that she would lose her top lip during her “terrifying ordeal” where the nurses actually laughed at her.
The 29-year-old who spoke out on “This Morning”, said she received the injections while at a Botox party, after being recommended for it by a friend.
“It was fine. I went to bed. I woke up at two in the morning and saw what you see in those pictures,” she said. “My lips touched my nose. They quadrupled in size. The pressure and burning on my lips was unbelievable.”
Anxious, she rushed to emergency where the hospital staff actually burst out in laughter because they couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.
“They hadn’t seen anything like it before. I’ve turned up to A&E with this huge thing on my face,” Rachael stated.
She added, “I’m telling them I’m having an allergic reaction, which is what I thought was happening. Three doctors said I’d actually had the filler injected into my artery.”
Three days following the miscalculated lip procedure, Rachael’s lips thankfully returned to their normal size. Since then, she has been campaigning for stricter regulations of such procedures, and is warning others to be careful when seeking such treatments. She’s now stressing the importance of “Protect before you inject.”
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, or BAAPS, has found that there’s been a steady rise in the number of unregulated procedures done – often times with no required qualifications in place for administering lip fillers in the UK.
Dr. Tijon Esho was in studio to join Rachael and talked about how he’s been contacted by children as young as 13-years-old seeking lip injections.
Dr. Esho warned people to only ever get the procedure done by medical professionals, as Rachael was very lucky to not have lost her upper lip.
“She was lucky it was identified as this and had the right agent to dissolve the filler. Many people have life-changing injuries because of this,” he cautioned.
Unfortunately this story isn’t the first of its kind, and Rachael is not the first person in the last few months to have a brush with bad Botox.
Last year a young mom was left with swollen lips that made her look like the “Elephant Man”, and she also warned people against lip injection treatments.
Billie Roocroft, 23, had never been happier to see her “thin” lips following her ordeal. Prior to that she had been dead set on a fuller look after seeing many celebs flaunting full pouts.
But after being administered the filler by a mother-daughter duo in her living room, she was left with painfully swollen lips and had to make an emergency trip to the hospital. The offer of 1ml of filler cost her the equivalent of $94 – definitely not worth the risk.
