One woman was left beyond terrified after suffering a horror lip filler reaction which left her 'thinking she would die' as her face doubled in size.
Back in January, Shaunna Harris, who hails from Bridgend in Wales, was left totally unrecognisable after her face ballooned in size just minutes after being injected with lip filler dissolver.
The 24-year-old was left 'gasping for air' following the severe allergic reaction.
Shaunna, who works as a radiographer, previously had lip filler injected twice but decided to dissolve her existing filler prior to having another 1ml put back in at her appointment.
Recalling that fateful day, she said: "I went to have my lip filler dissolved and I didn't think anything of it because I'd had lip filler put in in the past and it was all fine.
Advert
"I'd had 0.5ml when I was 18 then when I was 22 I had 1ml. That 1ml never dissolved, it just migrated. So I decided to get the filler that had migrated dissolved and get another 1ml put back in."
Shaunna said that 'straight away' she knew 'something wasn't right', adding: "My lips just blew up.
"I asked the aesthetician if it was normal and she said 'yeah people's lips do tend to swell up' but it didn't look normal.
Advert
She then started to get hives all over her eyelids in the next five minutes following the injection which were 'really itchy and painful'.
"Then within ten minutes my face was all blown up and swollen. I couldn't see out of my eyes," Shaunna noted.
When her aesthetician realised the severity of the allergic reaction, she rushed Shaunna to A&E where she was pumped with adrenaline and placed on a drip.
Advert
"My face was completely blown up and swollen so [the aesthetician] took my car and drove me to A&E. I looked unrecognisable," she recounted.
After a 20-minute drive to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Shaunna arrived 'gasping for air' and was immediately treated by medics.
She continued: "I was really struggling to breathe in the car. I was trying not to speak because it was so hard to breathe. I felt like I was going to faint.
"I thought I was going to die. I thought if my throat closes up anymore I would die. I was gasping for air.
Advert
"I walked into the hospital and was taken straight through. They laid me down, injected with me adrenaline and put me on a drip. My body was covered in hives. I felt like my skin was burning."
Shaunna added: "As soon as I got in, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't answer their questions because I couldn't breathe. All the nurses were worried.
"When they gave me the adrenaline, it opened up my airways and my breathing improved. But my face was swollen for days after. I was really worried my face wouldn't go down. I didn't go out the house for three days."
Advert
Doctors told Shaunna she had an allergy to hyaluronidase - a soluble protein enzyme that is typically used to break down the hyaluronic acid found in dermal filler.
Shaunna, who now carries an epi-pen, is using the nightmarish ordeal to warn others to ask for allergy tests before having their own filler dissolved.
She said: "I really didn't expect it because I hadn't had any issue with filler in the past.
"The doctor told me a second reaction is usually ten times worse and I could die so I don't think I'll ever get filler again. Risking my life isn't worth it.
"You never expect something like this to happen to you. I would say to other people: ask if there's any testing they can do beforehand for allergies because there's a risk it can go wrong."
Rhiannon Ingle