HOUSTON – Many women, looking to improve their appearance, are ending up with serious health problems from faulty hip and buttock enhancing injections. Houston Police are now investigating a woman’s complaint that injections at a local spa left her in agonizing pain.

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Buttock augmentations are the fastest-growing type of plastic surgery, up 77%, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.  

However, many women turn to lower-cost dermal filler injections. The FDA warns that unapproved fillers are leaving patients injured and disfigured.

“I feel tingling on my body, like ants walking on me,” said Tracey Ayele.

Ayele tells us she has suffered pain after paying a Houston spa for injections to fill indentations in her hips.

“Three weeks to a month later, I get like a red patch on the left hip where the injection site is at. It starts to sting so bad, my cats couldn’t put their heads on it, or if a pillow were to touch it, or a blanket, it would burn,” explained Ayele.

Ayele says she then had to pay a plastic surgeon $14,000 to suction the filler out.  But she says some of it could not be removed.

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We called and emailed the spa owner, and we went to the business to find out what Ayele had been injected with.  The space is now vacant, and we never heard back.  

The Texas Board of Medicine requires non-surgical medical cosmetic procedures be performed or supervised by a licensed physician.  And the FDA says it’s concerned about the use of counterfeit dermal fillers, which can cause serious health problems, even death.  

In fact, in an unrelated Houston case, Lisa Fernandez was arrested in November, accused of performing unlicensed silicone injections on a woman who died days later.  

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Plastic surgeon Dr. Franklin Rose says buttock augmentation surgeries are in high demand.

“Brazilian buttock lifts are done probably in Houston 20 times, 30 times, 40 times a day,” said Dr. Rose with Utopia Plastic Surgery.

Claudia Sierra had Dr. Rose perform her lift to boost her self-image.

“We took some fat from the hips and the thighs. Then the so-called Brazilian buttock lift is to sort of get a more curvaceous buttock,” said Dr. Rose.

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“I’m very happy with the results. Now I can wear the clothes that I always thought I could wear, and I’m just happy,” said Sierra of her results.

Dr. Rose recommends patients see a board-certified plastic surgeon for hip and buttock augmentation. He says those who receive illegal injections should be treated by a physician.

“Present to a family doctor and at least get a diagnosis,” said Dr. Rose.

Ayele has filed complaints with the Texas Medical Board and Houston Police Department.  We’ll keep you posted on the results.

FOX 26 wants to hear from patients who have had medical issues from hip or buttock injections.  Please contact Heather Sullivan on Facebook or Instagram.