Facial nerve damage caused by Juvederm dermal filler & advice to anyone doing injectables!

I am a 34 year old professional woman and as a reward for losing over 2 stone in weight, I decided to get .5 Juvederm Voluma in each cheek only. I felt I lost a lot of weight from my face, which I thought made me look older. I did Botox in my forehead 2 weeks before and it went fine. The doctor used a cannula, so only one incision on each cheek. My main goal was to see how it looked so I could do it again for my wedding in 2016. It has been the biggest regret of my life. A top Harley street nerve specialist diagnosed me with facial neuralgia (nerve damage) and I can't begin to explain the pain I feel on a constant daily basis. I pushed back my wedding until 2017 as I physically and emotionally cannot organise a wedding right now. I wasn't naive in getting this procedure done, I researched for a year and got recommendations of a former ENT surgeon who was very experienced in facial aesthetics. I knew someone who went to her and her face looked so natural and the clinic was reputable. The procedure did not go according to plan, the doctor really struggled on my left cheek to get the product in and she got frustrated and pushed through. I knew instantly I was in trouble. Of course she denies all this now. My cheek stayed red and inflammed for about 4-5 weeks (I thought initially it was an allergic reaction to the HA) and then the pain started to kick in. I now have physical scaring such as broken veins and redness on my once clear skin. It was the scariest time of my life. I had intense burning, stabbing, stinging and tingling from my cheek to my eye bag right up to my eye brow. The pain was so bad around my eye I thought I might lose my sight as I did not now what was happening to me. I had visions of a huge abscess forming under my skin and I thought I might lose my cheek. The anxiety and panic attacks were horrendous. My administrating doctor was useless and actually told me I had somatization disorder (it's all in my head) and referred me to a psychologist. She was frustrated at my calls for help as I was I was in so much pain.  She actually said she was terminating her "duty of care" as there was nothing wrong with me physically, that is was all psychological.My GP said my symptoms douched like nerve damage & he said it was typical of someone in the aesthetics industry to blame my pain from this procedure on a psychological problem. In August, I went to an eye surgeon to examine my eye who by chance was also an aesthetics doctor with 20 years experience and she said she could help me. I cried with relief!! She said my eyesight was fine and that I needed to get rid of the product with hyalase as it was probably sitting on a nerve. I was nervous as I read good and bad reviews about hyaluronidase so I got a patch test first in my face and it was fine. I got the filler removed but it did not help the pain and I spent £600. When I told the eye doctor it did not help and my face still gets intense pain and that it still gets red when the intense pain kicks in all she said was it must be "rosacea" in response to my email and she said "all the best". Another aesthetics professional that had no problem taking my money and closing the door in my face.I am now on Gabapentin 3 times a day since September but it only recently started to work. I still have constant pain but it is not as debilitating. My advice to you if want to get any injectable procedure done:- Only go to a board certified dermatologist with years of injecting experience. (They are more expensive for a reason and you can't put a price on your health)- If you are saving up money to get this procedure done then I strongly suggest you do not follow through. I have spent over £1000 trying to get medical help as private health insurance does not cover issues arising from cosmetic procedures and the NHS takes too long. I was on the waiting list to see a nerve specialist for months.- Ask about the "duty of care service" that they provide if something does go wrong.- Really think about the impact a wrong procedure can have on your life. The pain has affected my work and my relationships with my partner, friends, family and I stay in bed when I can. Luckily I don't have children that rely on me. - DO NOT DO ANY INJECTABLES less that 6 months before a big event such as your wedding. It could ruin your special day if the procedure goes badly.- If the procedure goes wrong the injecting doctor won't be the one that helps you. They don't want a law suit. I have seen the medical professionals that see the horror stories. Eyesight loss, nose cartilage loss, cheek absences, nasty reoccurring infections, skin necrosis (death of your skin) and nerve damage. It's not as uncommon as we are led to believe. - Silence is the cosmetics industry biggest weapon. No one wants to shout about the damage suffered by a procedure done by choice out of personal vanity. I will never touch an injectable again. I learned the hard way. I have been to over 20 medical appointments and I am seeing a psychologist to help me cope with the pain and the intense guilt that I feel having chosen to do this procedure. I have never felt so alone.Oh and what's ironic is after losing all the weight, I can no longer go to the gym since this procedure as the blood rushing to my head drives the nerve mad! My body that I worked to hard on is slowly but surely piling on the Pounds once again :( Biggest regret of my life.  Like 1No comments yet. Be the first.