East Bay Woman Injured After Attempting Plastic Surgery On Own Face
Posted: 8:46 pm PDT July 1, 2009Updated: 8:23 am PDT July 2, 2009
DUBLIN -- An East Bay woman was recovering Wednesday following corrective surgery after she attempted to perform plastic surgery on her own face. Her doctor said the tough economy and the easy availability of supplies online has caused an uptick in the potentially disfiguring practice.The woman, who asked that we not reveal her name is 54, a mother of three, with a career in the public eye. She said that after a visit to a plastic surgeon, she went online and bought a vial of liquid silicone for ten dollars, then injected it into her lips and cheek four weeks ago.“Insane. I can't believe I did what I did,” she said. “I thought I was going to be happy with the results, then the next day, my face became very inflamed, very red, swollen.”Plastic surgeon Steven Williams said the economy and the notion that plastic surgery is somehow foolproof has contributed to a recent rise in self-performed plastic surgeries.“We've noticed an uptick in people trying to do things like this at home,” said Williams. “And having problems, and [then] having to come in and see us.”On Wednesday, she underwent surgery to try to correct the horrifying result.Dr. Williams says this corrective procedure is more complicated than you might think. Because they’re not sure what was injected, the process requires more than just simply sucking out the bad silicone.“It's not something you can just draw out,” said Williams. “You actually have to go in surgically and cut it out. We don't know what this material is and it is actively causing serious problems for her.”He said clearing all the material out may require several more surgeries. His patient said she hopes speaking out about her experience might make others consider the potential consequences before self-administering silicone or other substances.
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