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A dental nurse says she was almost left blind after a lip filler treatment blocked the blood flow into her face.
Amy Wiseman, 21, from Durham, paid £70 for the treatment, but says she knew 'something wasn't right' after she was left in agony with a bruised lip.
After sharing photos, a colleague suggested having them checked by plastic surgeons and a GP, who warned the filler could have blocked the blood supply to her face.
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Amy was told by medics that she could have lost her eyesight and movement in the left side of her face if her lip filler wasn't dissolved within 24 hours.
"I was in utter shock when they said I could lose my sight," says Amy.
"I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know if my lips could be saved or if they would be permanently damaged.
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"I had reduced blood flow because the filler was blocking the artery so the bruising was blood that had nowhere to go.
"The dentist said if I didn't get it dissolved in 24 hours then I would go blind. If I didn't work in a dentist, I would have lost my eyesight and the left side of my face and I would have needed a tissue graft in my face.
"What if I'd ended up losing my eyesight and face? I wouldn't want to be here."
Amy explained she had had 0.5ml injected but immediately knew something was amiss.
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The dental nurse claims that the filler was injected into an artery, causing a vascular occlusion, where blood can't pass through a blood vessel.
The filler was dissolved by a medical practitioner the next day, with her GP telling her she was lucky to still have her lip.
"After the first injection, I felt severe pain but I didn't think anything of it because I know getting your lips done hurts but it was worse than I've experienced before," she says.
"I told the lady and she said it will look swollen because she'd hit a vein but it's nothing to worry about unless its a vascular occlusion.
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"I asked how she knew it wasn't that and she said it was fine. I looked at my lips in the car and I was really upset. They were bruised straight away which they don't normally do and the left side of my lip didn't look right at all and the pain was awful. It was agony.
"I sent a photo to the lady, she said it was just bruising and I trusted her because she's done them before. Later on the pain got really bad and I was really worried so I sent a photo to a dentist at work and they said I needed to go to the hospital.
"I went but there was a six-hour wait so I thought I'd leave it until the morning. My colleague sent photos to GPs and plastic surgeons she knows who said I needed to get it dissolved as soon as possible.
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"The dentist dissolved the filler and the GP they'd been in touch with said the fact I still had my lip was unbelievable.
"If it wasn't for me working in a dentist, I would have taken the lady's advice. They used six cartridges over two days to dissolve 0.5ml of filler."
Amy says she the traumatic ordeal has knocked her confidence so much that it's put her off lip filler treatment for life.
"One side of my lips is smaller than the other where I've had the filler dissolved because it was an emergency so I was so grateful we have to wear masks because it's made me feel so down," she continues.
"It's my face at the end of the day and I was so concerned I would have permanent damage.
"It's one of those things. Some people like going out drinking. I like the way they look but this has made me realise that there's more to life than getting lip filler. I'm still very traumatised."
Amy is urging people to only get filler if it is administered by a medically trained professional.
"It has put me off and I wouldn't get them done again but if I was to get them done again I'd go to someone who is medically trained.
"People do a lip filler course in a day and they're qualified. A medic could have diagnosed the issue and resolved it straight away.
"People need to be made aware of how dangerous it can be. Someone else might find out an even harder way."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media