Liposuction and Lipolysis Injections

After getting fat grafting for facial volume, I could not tolerate how unnatural it looked and underwent liposuction. After the liposuction, I received lipolysis injections to reduce the fat remaining around the nasolabial fold area. Around one week later, the facial fat connecting the area beside my nose and the nasolabial folds began to disappear. During the 3-4 days between making an appointment and visiting the clinic, I suffered from severe pulling pain on both sides of my nose and extreme fear as the flesh gradually became sunken. The clinic gave me injections in the sunken areas. There was immediate volume improvement, but the hard foreign-body sensation and stinging, throbbing pain became worse. Around one week later, strange symptoms began appearing on my face: small blisters appeared on my forehead, patchy map-like discoloration formed as various parts of my face turned whitish, and I developed severe skin trouble. Most frighteningly, in areas where I had previously had fat grafting but no liposuction, such as the forehead, temples, and around the eyes, I developed allergic reactions along with the terrifying phenomenon of the flesh caving in. I visited the clinic three times while going through this process, and it was the most horrific experience of my life. When I asked about the connection between the blisters and discoloration that had started appearing on my face and the lipolysis injections, they said it had absolutely nothing to do with the lipolysis injections and that it was nonsense to say they could have any effect. Their inconsistent and vague explanations made my anxiety even worse. They said it was not filling volume but a procedure to secure space for collagen formation; then they also said it was an injection to loosen lumps even though there were no lumps. They said the hard foreign-body sensation would go away, but that area throbbed with pain, so I was extremely anxious. Because I wanted to know the amount and condition of it, I later had an ultrasound at a university hospital, and they said the injected substance was widely dispersed between the skin tissues, making it difficult to measure the amount separately. One month after the lipolysis injections and three weeks after the emergency treatment for the sunken area, I visited the clinic and explained, with photos, the allergic reactions that had appeared across my entire face in the meantime, as well as the loss of the grafted fat and facial fat. The suffering of feeling your flesh melt away is indescribably horrific. I could neither sleep nor eat, and every moment was painful. The doctor’s response remained unchanged, repeatedly saying it was unrelated, and said he did not know much about dermatology and told me to see a dermatologist. The clinic name clearly included dermatology and plastic surgery, but in reality, that doctor was neither a dermatologist nor a plastic surgery specialist. I had no intention at all of holding them responsible or seeking compensation. My flesh was melting away, and I had no room to think about such things. What I desperately needed was an accurate explanation of my symptoms and appropriate measures, but I was met with endlessly repeated answers full of sighs and irritation, saying it had nothing to do with it. It really may have had nothing to do with it, but no matter how I think about it, that was not the attitude a doctor should have toward a patient. The attitude of the person who consulted with me also changed abruptly, leaving me flustered. Even now, I feel chilled and distressed when I remember that doctor’s irritation and sarcasm, and then the sudden bright smile while saying goodbye. After the liposuction and lipolysis injections, once the strange facial symptoms had passed, I developed a new illness with allergic reactions throughout my body, along with numbness and pain in my arms and legs. I received treatment at a general hospital in dermatology, neurology, and rheumatology, and they said it was a type of autoimmune disease that appears in the body after excessive stress. The mental and financial suffering I had to endure because of my wrong choice was too harsh. Afterward, through several laser treatments to improve the uneven cheek fat caused by liposuction and the unnatural, asymmetric front-cheek volume caused by the emergency treatment for the sunken area, the condition of my face improved a lot, but the emotional wounds were so severe that I also received psychiatric treatment. Choosing a clinic based only on YouTube videos is truly dangerous. What is shown in videos may not be the true picture. While urgently looking for a clinic and having consultations, I felt that something was a bit strange, but going ahead with it anyway was my mistake. It is hard to know who is a good doctor, and realistically it may not be easy to meet such a person, but at the very least, through sufficient consultation, you must assess the doctor’s sincerity and meet a doctor you can trust. Everyone, I hope you do not make the same mistake I did and make careful judgments.