Nurse nearly loses face after botched lip service

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Nurse nearly loses face after botched lip service


A nurse claims she almost lost her face after her lip began to die when filler was injected into a blood vessel by accident.

Paige Bellinger, 26, has now shared shocking photos of her ordeal in a bid to warn others about the risk of complications with lip filler after she was forced to spend an extra $6,000 on procedures.

The nurse had 0.5ml of filler injected into her lips for the first time last August 6 by a cosmetologist that she had previously visited for eyelash extensions.

She claims the needle “met resistance” on the right side of her upper lip and immediately after the appointment this area appeared white.

The strange coloring is supposed to be a tell-tale sign of vascular occlusion — when blood is no longer able to pass through a blood vessel.

Despite expressing concerns and sending multiple photos of her extremely bruised, swollen, and painful lips over the next few days, the practitioner told Paige her lips looked “totally normal.”

But after multiple hospital visits, she claims a doctor finally confirmed five days after her appointment that the filler had been injected into a vein and was starving her lip of oxygen.

Paige Bellinger’s lip started to become infected after lip filler had been injected into a vein.
Paige Bellinger’s lip started to become infected after lip filler had been injected into a vein.
Kennedy News and Media

In efforts to restore blood flow and “save her lip and face,” Paige says she had to have treatment in a pressurized chamber.

Paige, from Jonesboro, Arkansas, said: “My top lip is a little bit disproportionate to my bottom and I have this really big ‘m’ shape that I just do not like so I thought maybe we can even it out.

“When she initially put the needle in the right side she met some resistance and I kind of winced and she said ‘sometimes one side will be a little tougher than the other.’

“When she started to inject the filler she met a lot of resistance and my eyes started to water because it was hurting a fair amount,” Paige continued.

“She said ‘I’m sorry’ and kept injecting.”

After her lip filler appointment, Paige says she immediately suffered from intense pain and swelling, as well as noticing the right side of her top lip looked worryingly pale.

The nurse said that her lips were then “super painful” and that after her appointment she “could hardly talk, I couldn’t smile.”

“I messaged her about it several times and she was just like ‘that’s normal, you just need to massage them,’ ” Paige claimed.

Symptoms Worsen

Messages show the practitioner repeatedly brushed off her concerns and told her to ice and massage the area to help the swelling go down.

Paige Bellinger claims her practitioner had downplayed her swelling and infecting lip.
Paige Bellinger claims her practitioner had downplayed her swelling and infecting lip.
Kennedy News and Media

“You could see immediately after the appointment, that the right side was white and occluded – I asked her about it and she said ‘sometimes it just makes it look that color’ so I trusted her,” Paige alleged.

But she decided to go to urgent care two days later when she noticed a delayed capillary refill when she pressed on her lip, where a doctor gave her a steroid injection hoping it would reduce the swelling and restore the blood flow.

The following day, when her symptoms persisted, she was given another steroid injection and prescribed antibiotics and an antibiotic cream due to concerns her lip had become infected.

When her symptoms worsened again, she says a wound care specialist finally confirmed that she had suffered a vascular occlusion and sent her for emergency treatment the next day on August 12.

“I went to see an urgent care doctor a few days later because I could see a difference in my capillary refill — my left side was immediate and my right side was eight seconds,” Paige explained.

“He said that she had injected into a blood vessel and occluded my lip — what I thought was a bruise was where blood was pooling from that injured blood vessel.

“He said if I wanted my lip at all I was going to have to get into a Hyperbaric chamber to restore blood flow.”

Nose and Chin Affected

Paige then underwent a total of ten hours in a Hyperbaric chamber, split over five sessions, using oxygen at a higher atmospheric pressure to see if the blood supply could restore around the filler.

Paige Bellinger resorted to expensive steroid and antibiotic treatments to stop her bruised lip.
Paige Bellinger resorted to expensive steroid and antibiotic treatments to stop her bruised lip.
Kennedy News and Media

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and the pressure actually dislodged the filler, further cutting off blood supply to her nose and chin and meaning she had to have the filler dissolved immediately, or risk “losing half her face.”

Paige said: “I went in the Hyperbaric chamber and when I got out they said I needed to go and get my filler dissolved immediately because the pressure had dislodged my filler.

“It had cut off blood supply to my nose and chin as well so I was in danger of losing half my face — you could see the whiteness around the top of my mouth.

“So then I was panicked because I didn’t want to lose my nose and chin as well, on top of my lips,” she added.

“I went to get it dissolved immediately which was probably the most painful thing I’ve done in my life.

“They ended up having to do a dental block on me because it was so painful I was shaking and was afraid I was going to pass out because it hurt so bad.”

Thankfully after dissolving the filler, blood flow was restored and further Hyperbaric chamber treatments saved Paige’s lip.

Makes Me “Angry”

But after the traumatizing experience and being forced to fork out almost $6,000 on doctor’s visits and treatments, she has been left “angry” that the cosmetologist has failed to take responsibility.

Paige Bellinger recalled being unable to talk or even smile while her lip worsened from lack of blood flow.
Paige Bellinger recalled being unable to talk or even smile while her lip worsened from lack of blood flow.
Kennedy News and Media

The practitioner in fact reportedly blamed Paige for the complications, saying she “didn’t follow aftercare instructions” and “got a steroid shot before she had time for them to settle.”

The nurse, who has been put off filler for life, now hopes to encourage others considering getting filler to thoroughly do their research to avoid the same fate she suffered.

Paige said: “It makes me angry that she hasn’t taken responsibility for it.

“If I hadn’t continued to go from provider to provider then I could’ve been in a lot more trouble and the next person she does this to might not know the signs and there’s no telling what could happen to them.

“The scab came off after about three weeks and I’m fully healed now, but I still have some lumpy scar tissue in my lip.

“I will never get anything done ever again.”

The cosmetologist who injected Paige’s lips was contacted for comment.

This story was originally published on The Sun and reproduced here with permission.



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