April Brown, a former cosmetologist, lost both her arms and legs after she let an acquaintance who was offering cheap butt injections fill up her rear end. Brown recalled, “I was in pain, my butt was hard, and I was itching.”
According to a Newsfix video, when the doctors removed the do-it-yourself butt injections, they found they were made from bathroom caulk sealant. Brown underwent 27 surgeries, then finally realized how serious the problem was. She remembered thinking, “Oh, my God. I’m going to lose my hands.”
Doctors say Brown is not an isolated case; more people than ever are eschewing visiting doctors so they can avoid paying the fees. Instead, they rely on Internet providers who offer cosmetic fillers such as Botox at a price far less than what doctors would charge. But the ultimate cost may turn out to be much higher.
One California doctor who has removed online cosmetic fillers from patients has found glass or fiberglass in their bodies. He said, “This was … material that the body’s not prepared to accept.”
The Daily Mail reported in December 2012 that 41-year-old Mary Catchpole, who was about to get married, received dermal fillers in both of her cheeks, but the injections resulted in serious nerve damage, blurred vision, insomnia, and depression. The report added that “a survey by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) revealed that in the past year around seven in ten surgeons had seen patients complaining of complications from dermal fillers, and over the past three years the number of problems with some fillers has tripled.”
Dr. Erin Gilbert, a professor of dermatology at the State University of New York, said, “All dermal fillers can induce serious and potentially long-lasting adverse effects.”