A mum says she needed emergency surgery after developing a huge abscess ‘after a fat-dissolving injection session on her stomach at a salon’. Julia Lanni, 58, said she paid just £120 for 16 injections through her stomach, hoping it would improve her body confidence.
But a week later her mother says she developed an abscess the size of a fist in her stomach, was taken to A&E and was rushed to theatre. She says she woke up to find a hole in her abdomen – 7cm deep and 10cm across.
Now the childcare worker says she is £2,500 short of missing work and has a 4cm scar. Websites market the drug as a ‘non-surgical alternative to liposuction’ and say patients absorb the fat that drains through the kidneys.
Reports say infection or abscesses are “rare” but there is a risk at the injection site. Julia, from Hertfordshire, said: “This treatment is certainly life-changing, but not in the way I want it to be. My confidence is lower than before. After the treatment my weight was the same and I was left with a scar.
“The whole experience was extremely distressing. The opening was large. I said to the surgeon, ‘It feels like a burnt potato’, and he said, ‘It’s bad, like a small cabbage.’
“I can accept a reaction that requires a course of antibiotics, but an abscess of that size and emergency surgery is okay. All the medical staff I saw said they had never seen anything like this.
After gaining 7lbs 3lbs after the birth of her son in 2000, Julia lost confidence and went through menopause in 2018. Taking steroids for her medical condition, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, prevented her from shedding the pounds, she said.
She tried all kinds of diets, including Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Fodmop, Cambridge, Xante and Atkins. Finally, in July 2023, she succumbed to the online weight loss attack and entered a salon.
She says the practitioner injected 16 measures of the substance into Julia’s stomach. Julia was told to wait three to four days before seeking medical help if she had an adverse reaction, she said.
She says it started immediately after she tried to fight the heat and pain in her stomach using wet paper towels. Three days after the treatment, on August 26, she began to feel severe pain.
She said: “After a week it was so painful that no one could touch it and I could hardly move: it was unbearable.”
She says she went to her GP on August 29, who was given antibiotics and told to go to A&E. She said the pain was too much to bear when a friend drove her to Lister Hospital in Stevenage that night. Julia had emergency surgery at 3am.
She says she had to go to her GP surgery to have the wound packed and dressed for five weeks. She said: “When they touched it, it was very painful – like hundreds of bees.”
Julia says she has been unable to work for five weeks and has to use £2,500 of her savings to live on. But she said she could not be compensated because she had signed a consent form that listed an abscess as a possible side effect of the treatment.
She added that the salon she used was closed. She said: “I researched the treatment online for over a month and did not see abscesses listed as a side effect. I think the form I signed is too generic.
“The doctor said the worst that could happen is that the treatment doesn’t work. I took her word for it. The salon looked clean so I didn’t mind. It had 5 star reviews and ten out of ten on Trustpilot. We checked and there were no contraindications to my treatment with steroid medication.
“I advise people to be aware that this treatment can have dire consequences – think very carefully before getting it, and only go to an esthetician recommended by someone you know. Do not wait the recommended time before seeking medical help, and if possible, start taking antibiotics before treatment.
Qualified NHS GP Qasim Usmani, who trains healthcare professionals in safe, aesthetic practice, said: “Like all medical treatments, fat-dissolving injections carry risks. It is important to go to a medically qualified practitioner who understands the anatomy of the area. Correct injection, as well as product placement, is essential. Depth and amount of product used.
“Unfortunately, many fat-dissolving injections are purchased online and contain questionable ingredients that can cause complications such as abscesses, tissue necrosis, and damage. These complications also occur with approved, safe products like Aqualyx, but are far less common when done. is. controlled, medical environment by a qualified medical professional.”
The makers of Aqualyx did not respond to a request for comment.
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