A mum's bid to stop herself looking like 'an ironing board' left her with 'bullet wound' holes in her bum - after an agonising Brazilian butt lift she bought on Facebook. Melissa Crawford had always been self conscious of her 'flat' behind and when childbirth left her looking like an 'ironing board' she began searching for ways to feel more confident in her body.
At first, the 30-year-old thought about going to Turkey to undergo a 'liquid BBL' but as a busy mum-of-three she decided to find a salon offering the treatment closer to home. This is when the victim support worker stumbled across an aesthetician on Facebook and booked an appointment. Melissa says she forked out £1,700 to undergo a non-surgical butt lift and a round of eyebrow filler.
But when she underwent her liquid BBL on May 8th this year, Melissa says she was left in 'excruciating' pain as one-litre of filler was injected into her backside with a 'lipo-sized' needle. Before being injected, Melissa claims she was never told to sign any documents or shown what products were being put into her.
She claims the pain was worse than childbirth and 24 hours after undergoing the beauty procedure she says abscesses began growing on her bottom. Melissa claims she reached out to the aesthetician about the pain and infection she was experiencing but, after an initial response in which she was allegedly advised to use an electric toothbrush to calm her swollen face, was reportedly ignored.
And after being prescribed antibiotics by her GP to bring down her fever, she reached out to another aesthetician who told her to go straight to hospital on May 17 when she was still experiencing pain. Despite having the filler drained and the abscesses removed, Melissa claims she's been left with two scars and dents like bullet wounds on her buttocks.
Melissa, from Belfast in Northern Ireland, said: "I have always been really self conscious about my bum because it's quite flat. Growing up I was more of a boob girl than a bum girl and then I had kids and my boobs went. I just look like an ironing board.
"[When I found the aesthetician], I had never heard of the salon before but she had been sharing things on Facebook. Not a lot of places offered bum filler and it was so hard to find. The beautician said she had done it [bum filler] on herself so I thought this was a good sign.
"She did the bum filler first. She just asked if I was allergic to anything but I didn't have to sign anything. I remember panicking here as I didn't think this was a good sign but I wanted the treatment done so badly. She didn't show me what she was going to use and didn't show me any of the expiry dates on the products. She just got a big see-through bag with pre-filled syringes. It was so heavy and massive.
"She injected me with lidocaine [for numbing] in a few spots on my bum. It looked like a lipo needle. I could feel it and didn't think I'd be able to do it. She started crunching. It sounded like rocks being crunched together and she told me it was just her breaking away fat from the skin. It was excruciating and sweat was lashing off me.
"She filled one cheek and then filled the other side. She had suggested one-litre filler in my bum. I was stuck to the bed in sweat. My clothes were soaked and I was biting my hand. It was excruciating. When she was done, I was so relieved. I felt like I was going to pass out. She told me I could sit down but I couldn't do this as I was in so much pain. She said it was just swelling and I would need to lay on my stomach for the first night but then I would be okay.
"I would have children again in a heartbeat [the pain was that bad]. I said to the beautician it was like bordering death. It was terrible. There was no sign of an abscess yet but within 24 hours, I got this massive golf ball on the side of me and then another one appeared.
"I kept messaging the beautician the whole time and she told me she didn't trust the GP as they didn't understand aesthetics. She said she would send photos to her people but just never got back to me on this. I felt constantly lightheaded and I couldn't eat. Even with the medicine given by the doctor, I was waking up in the middle of the night and sweat was lashing off me.
"I was in agony. It was like this horrible throb and I felt like somebody had just pushed a brick in my bum that was scolding."
At the hospital, Melissa underwent surgery to have the filler drained from her body and abscesses removed from her bottom on May 21st. She says she was left with two 'gaping' holes in her backside and 'hip dips' all the way around her bum from the liquid BBL treatment.
Melissa said: "The surgeon came down and told me he needed to remove this [the filler] now as it was in my bloodstream. I was rushed in for emergency surgery and I came out with two holes in my bum. They were massive and this is where they had removed the abscesses from.
"I had to have my holes packed every day. It looked like I had two massive stab or bullet wounds [in my bum]. One of the holes was two inches deep and the other one was slightly smaller. I was devastated. At the time, I was just relieved to get it [the filler] out and recover from this.
"But as time went on, I had big massive dents in it. Where your bum naturally fills out, I have two gaping holes and dents in it so it looks like I have hip dips all the way around my bum now and it looks horrendous."
As well as her liquid BBL, Melissa claims the eyebrow filler carried out by the beautician left her looking like 'Quasimodo' and was advised to massage her face with a toothbrush. Melissa said: "It was the eyebrow filler I had gotten back in touch with about first because my eye was droopy. It was causing my eyelash extensions to point downwards and I couldn't see and it felt so heavy. I felt like Quasimodo.
"I got back in touch with the beautician and told her I had a speech to do the next day. I couldn't function. I couldn't drive or speak to people because I felt a mess. She said I would be okay and told me to use an electric toothbrush on it to help the muscles."
Melissa says the whole experience has put her off getting filler for life and is now warning others about her own physical and mental repercussions following her treatment. Melissa said: "I can't wear jeans or dresses. I just wear baggy clothes now. I can't go in for any kind of surgery now to fix it so I'm stuck with this for life.
"It was my biggest insecurity and now I feel stupid. It breaks my heart. It has put me off filler for life and I have had chin, cheek and botox in my jaw and lip and teardrop filler and it's put me off everything. It's given me the scare I needed.
"They [the holes] are healing well. The hole that is nearly closed, you can see it's a big purple scar already. They are massive and take up most of the side of my bum and they are hideous and I will be permanently scarred from it. It haunts me now. My children are all girls and they have asked me why I did this.
"Looks fade but your personality stays forever. When beauty standards change, you're going to be left with all this filler in your body. I always thought it was just a BBL surgery in Turkey that was meant to be dangerous and this was the safer option but it's really not and it's not worth it."
The beautician said she takes any claims or concerns about her professional work 'very seriously', however due to patient confidentiality and the sensitive nature of these issues, she was unable to comment on specific cases or individuals.
However she claimed that all treatments provided by her are carried out with 'utmost care, adhering to the highest standards of safety and professionalism'.
