Woman whose lips swelled to TWICE their original size wins backing from Theresa May for tighter controls on fillers

In November last year Fabulous Digital exclusively revealed Rachael Knappier, 29, nearly lost her lip after having fillers at a friend's house.

What she didn’t bank on was the beautician injecting the filler into an artery, which caused her lips to swell massively.

Now Rachael has taken her fight for tighter regulations of the cosmetic surgery to parliament – and received the backing of the PM.

Offering her sympathy to Rachael, Theresa May said this week: "We recognise that this growth in non-surgical treatments increases the need for consumer protection, and we are currently working with stakeholders to strengthen the regulation of cosmetics procedures.

"We are committed to improving the safety of cosmetic procedures and there are a number of ways in which that can be done: better training and robust qualifications for practitioners, but also clear information so that people can make informed decision about their care."

She continued:  "We would urge anyone seeking a cosmetic procedure to take the time to find a reputable, safe and qualified practitioner who is subject to statutory regulation or on an accredited voluntary register."

Rachael, speaking exclusively to Fabulous Digital afterwards, said: " I feel very grateful and humbled that I can use what happened to me to help others.

"It’s a big responsibility but one that I take very seriously and will not stop until regulation is tighter."

She added: "My case is an example of why the cosmetic surgery industry needs to be changed."

Rachael told how she previously visited a local, highly-qualified, aesthetics nurse for Botox and a small dose of filler in her top lip to even out a permanent bump, a legacy of a fire door hitting her face as a teenager.

Even though her lip filler was due a top-up, Rachael hadn’t intended getting it done while at her friend's home. But that’s before the booze was uncorked.

Rachael said: "My friend had raved about this beautician and how great she was so I decided to go ahead."

Botox parties, which offer cheap beauty treatments as you relax with friends, are a growing trend in the UK. It’s now estimated that more than a million Botox procedures are performed each year in the UK and that number is rising.

Lip fillers alone cost an average of £300 in a clinic, but Rachael, who works for a law firm, had fillers and Botox for around £220 at her pal's home.

Rachael, from Leicestershire, said: "There was fizz and cake and it was a bit of a conveyor belt with girls sitting in the kitchen waiting their turn with local anaesthetic cream on their faces.

"The beautician – who I assumed at the time was a nurse – didn’t ask me to sign any consent forms so alarm bells should have rung. But being with friends took away all the seriousness of having filler injected into my face."

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She continued: "She noticed the bump on my lip when she was doing my Botox and said she could inject a bit of filler for me if I wanted her to.

"To be fair, she told me to go and have a think about it in the kitchen but she’d found my weakness. My lip is the one thing that really bothers me about my appearance."

Rachael was given numbing cream to use on her lips before she hopped onto the bed where the beautician told her she was using a brand of filler called Teosyal, though it later transpired she'd used a different make entirely.

"One injection upwards towards my nose was very painful," Rachael remembered. "Within a few hours I began to feel unwell, my lips swelled like nothing I'd ever seen before and the pressure was unbearable."

Panic stricken, she called the beautician – who Rachael has since discovered was released from prison earlier this year – who then Facetimed her to look at her lips.

Rachael said: “She was visibly shocked, clamped her hands over her mouth, told me I was having an allergic reaction and that I needed to take antihistamine and get to A&E."

Within a few hours I began to feel unwell, my lips swelled like nothing I'd ever seen before and the pressure was unbearable.

She continued: “At A&E they tested me for anaphylactic shock but three medics concluded I wasn’t having an allergic reaction and told me to go back to the beautician for treatment to dissolve the fillers."

After leaving A&E Rachael’s top lip split. She called her mum who suggested she contact The Consultant Clinic in London (who she followed on social media) for help.

Rachael added: “The owner told me I needed to get to London immediately and that she’d have an emergency doctor waiting for me."

She continued: “She said that, based on looking at my pictures, her medical team suspected vascular occlusion, meaning that the filler had been injected into an artery and could lead to necrosis – death of soft tissue. I honestly thought I was going to die."

Due to the pain in her lips and the severity of the pressure she contacted a local aesthetic nurse who injected her with antihistamine medication to attempt to reduce the swelling and pressure.

A couple of days later Rachael then had several doses of dissolving agent injected into her lips at the Consultant Clinic.

We recognise that this growth in non-surgical treatments increases the need for consumer protection.

She said: “It was so painful, that my mum, who was sitting upstairs in a waiting room, could hear my screams."

Within 72 hours of the emergency dissolving treatment, Rachael’s swelling began to subside and, three months on, her lips are almost back to normal.

She said: “I would never go near a Botox party again. I’m cross that I didn’t do my research and just assumed that everyone who injects Botox and fillers has been to medical school.

“I could have had the same reaction to the filler with a doctor but the difference is that they would have known what to do to treat it.

“The combination of the party atmosphere, my own naivety and the beautician’s lack of training meant I could have lost my lip."

She then contacted Antonia Mariconda, founder of the Safety in Beauty campaign, who said Rachael’s botched lip fillers were one of the worst cases she’s seen.

Antonia said: “We urge ladies to please do their research and only entrust these invasive aesthetic procedures to experienced medical professionals.

“We are calling for the government to ban non-healthcare professionals from carrying out these seriously risky procedures and met with Theresa May earlier this year. It’s time to clean out the cosmetic cowboys."

How to have Botox and fillers safely

You should always do your research and take time to find a reputable practitioner.

Save Face, which is a government-approved register, provides a list of people who are qualified here.

Make sure the treatment is carried out in a clean, safe and appropriate environment.

Before you have Botox or fillers you should always ask your consultant what qualifications they have, what brands they're using and if they've been extensively tested.

People with damaged nerves or muscle complaints should make sure whoever is carrying out Botox treatment is aware of this.

And Botox, along with fillers, is not advised for anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding.

If you have problems take up the issues with your practioner as soon as possible.

And if you need medical attention, go straight to your GP or local A&E.

GP and cosmetic doctor Jane Leonard offers aesthetic treatments at clinics in London and Cheshire and says many women approach her having had a bad experience at a Botox bash.

She said: "I only see these people when things have gone wrong. If you inject something into someone’s lips or face you have to know anatomically where you’re putting it, which a beautician isn’t going to know.

"And a short course on how to give Botox and fillers isn’t going to teach you that.

"The second problem is the quality of the products they’re using, which is the biggest divide between doctors and dentists administering Botox and fillers and beauticians doing it for £50 in a salon or at a party.

"If something goes wrong, we know what a vascular problem or an infection looks like and can act quickly to treat it but a beautician won't.

"There are two problems that I commonly see in women who've had treatment at a party – either they are dissatisfied with the results such as lumpiness in the filler or drooping from Botox, or they have a medical issue such as a blockage in the blood supply in the face, which is an emergency."

Unfortunately, because the aesthetics industry remains unregulated it attracts unscrupulous profiteers with no medical training to cope with complications which may arise.

Nikki Milovanovic is a spokeswoman for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and says it’s a serious problem.

“Botox can only be injected by a prescribing clinician or under their supervision as it’s a prescription only medicine, but the problem is that many unscrupulous practitioners can get hold of Botox – or counterfeit products – online, and then administer it in non-clinical settings, anywhere from parties to ‘pop-ups’ and pub car parks,” she explained.

Fillers are unregulated so there's nothing stopping people from using the public as guinea pigs. Often the person administering injections is unable to recognise complications, let alone treat them

“Almost anyone can take qualification courses required to inject dermal fillers, which can be as short as half a day.

"But fillers are unregulated so there's nothing stopping people from using the public as guinea pigs. Often the person administering injections is unable to recognise complications, let alone treat them."

A recent poll of BAAPS members revealed that 40 percent of them have seen an alarming increase in problems with unregulated facial injectables (dermal fillers) over the last five years, which would have been avoided if fillers were available on prescription only.

A Towie beauty guru who had twice-yearly anti-wrinkle jabs for a decade suffers facial paralysis and violent seizures four times a day in ‘worst case of Botox poisoning ever seen’.

Meanwhile this woman knows her £100,000 cosmetic surgery addiction could kill her… but carries on regardless.

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