A 29-year-old mother from Wythenshawe, England was mortified to discover the lip filler treatment she underwent had left her with an unrecognisable pair of "sausage lips".
Christina Burton had made the decision to get her lips done via an at-home procedure costing £75 ($100), unfortunately, the outcome was so extreme that it apparently made her friend physically sick at the mere sight of Burton's new lips.
According to the Greater Manchester native, her lips began swelling after numbing cream was applied to them before the treatment. The beautician, however, assured Burton that there was nothing to worry about.
Evidently, there was a great deal to worry about - she had experienced a very dangerous allergic reaction to the lip filler. Her throat had started to close up and she had difficulties breathing.
In fact, just a few hours after the procedure, the 29-year-old had no choice but to call the emergency services when her lips continued to balloon in size.
When the ambulance arrived, Burton was rushed to the hospital.
"They had to give me a cannula straight away and two lots of adrenaline," she recalled. "That’s when it scared me. It’s a good job I didn’t go to sleep which is what I was planning to do, I worry I might not have woken up."
At the hospital, Burton was administered steroids, adrenaline, and oxygen in a bid to alleviate the excruciating pain.
"The hospital nurses couldn’t believe how badly swollen my lips and the skin between my nose and lips were," she added. "The pain felt like they were going to explode, it felt like when something has its own pulse."
"I couldn’t open my mouth because my lips were that heavy, it was scary. I’m scared to death of hospitals. Last time I was in that ward my gran passed away and I was in the same room where she was, it was just horrible."
Doctors decided it was safe to discharge Burton the following evening and the mother was sent home with a course of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and steroids.
After the nightmare ordeal, she showed her friends and family pictures of her "duck gone wrong" lips and they initially thought the look was achieved through a silly filter.
Imagine their immense shock when they learned that the pictures were completely real.
"Everyone thought it was a Snapchat filter, I even FaceTimed my cousin who laughed at first because I looked like a duck. I couldn’t even talk it was that bad," Burton continued. "I won’t get fillers again. I’ve been tempted to get them done again but I’m just scared. I’ve gone to book it and canceled it because the thought of going through that again?"
I just can’t, it’s not worth it. It could have killed me, who would explain that to my kids? I’m sharing my story in the hope that people are aware that allergic reactions can and do happen to anyone.
I would say to anyone thinking of getting a filter to make sure it’s with someone who’s fully qualified and has had proper training, you know what products they’re using and they’re insured.
