A WOMAN’S hotel room BBL left her with blackened holes that leaked silicone for six months afterwards.
Monique Sofroniou was left fighting for her life after her horror Brazilian butt lift procedure, developing life-threatening sepsis that landed her in hospital.
ITVMonique Sofroniou was left fighting for her life after getting a liquid BBL in a hotel room[/caption]
ITVThe procedure left her with a severe infection and sepsis[/caption]
ITVThough she narrowly escaped with her life, the procedure left Monique with permanent scars[/caption]
Though she survived her ordeal and the agonising pain that came with it, Monique has now been left with permanent scarring across her bum, she told ITV News.
And she still has clumps of silicone in her backside, as removing them would involve going under the knife to “scrape” them out – a surgery that would leave her “really disfigured”.
Monique underwent what’s called a liquid BBL, a non-surgical procedure that usually involves injecting hyaluronic acid – the same material used for lip filler – into the bum.
But after her hotel room procedure, Monique’s skin broke out in blisters that “started to pop”, leaving “filler and blood” oozing out of her bum, she told ITV News.
She woke up in the middle of the night being violently sick and with a raging temperature.
“My sides and my bum were red raw, really hot and really hard,” she recalled.
“I was in agony, worst pain of my life.”
In hospital, doctors told Monique she had a severe infection and she was diagnosed with sepsis.
Monique stayed in hospital a week.
“They drew around the redness just to make sure it wasn’t spreading anywhere,” she recalled.
She was allowed to go home but her infection got worse, with her side turning black and her skin was covered in holes.
She was rushed back to hospital to undergo emergency surgery, where doctors removed some of Monique’s infected skin.
It was there that medics discovered she hadn’t been injected with hyaluronic acid at all, but silicone.
Monique’s condition started to improve, but the skin on her bum continued to weep and she was in excruciating pain for weeks afterwards.
And for about six months after her BBL, Monique was able to squeeze silicone out of her bum.
As silicone can’t be dissolved like hyaluronic acid, she went to see a private surgeon about getting it removed.
She was told that the surgery to scrape the silicone out would leave her disfigured, so Monique is left with it still in her bum.
Between December 2023 and March this year, 153 people can reported complaints about their liquid BBLs to Save Face, a government-approved register for aesthetic practitioners, ITV News reported.
More than half of the complainants – a whopping 53 per cent – said they contracted sepsis from their procedures and 68 per cent were left with an infection.
Meanwhile, 98 per cent of them weren’t even sure what kind of filler was injected into their bums.
Most were blocked or ignore by the people who carried out their BBL after they tried to complain.
Save Face are campaigning for the procedure to be banned completely.
But they advised that you seek emergency NHS treatment immediately if you feel unwell after a liquid BBL, as “it could literally be the difference between life and death”.
Save Face warned that you shouldn’t wait to get advice from your BBL provider in these circumstances.
The group urged anyone with a similar experience to contact them.
The UK government launched a consultation in September 2023 on enhancing the safety and quality of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which could bring restrictions on how liquid BBLs are performed or see the procedure banned.
What are the symptoms of sepsis?
SEPSIS is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that happens when your immune system overreacts and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs.
Symptoms of sepsis in an adult include:
Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue – on brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
If you think you or someone else has symptoms of sepsis, call 999 or go to A&E.
Source: NHS
ITVMonique said the skin of her bum and sides felt hot and hard after the procedure[/caption]
ITVShe was able to squeeze silicone out of the wounds in her bum for 6 months after her BBL[/caption]