Warning about the risks of beauty treatments using mesotherapy

Recently, there have been many cases of complications after meso injections that required hospitalization due to injections of unknown active ingredients on the market.

The risks of mesotherapy

Currently, mesotherapy injection (also known as meso) for skin rejuvenation is popular with many people. Although this injection technique is quite simple, there are still many cases of complications.

Recently, there have been many cases of complications after meso injections that required hospitalization due to injections of unknown active ingredients on the market.

Master, Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Oanh, Department of Dermatology, Bach Mai Hospital said, meso is a minimally invasive method to deliver active ingredients through the skin and treat skin and body problems such as solving skin aging, skin darkening, skin pigmentation as well as helping to reduce eye bags, hair loss, weight loss...

Meso is also an easy and relatively safe beauty method if performed by qualified doctors and at reputable, licensed hospitals and beauty facilities.

On the contrary, if this method is performed at spas or non-dermatology facilities by practitioners who are not qualified doctors, complications are likely to occur.

Complications after meso injection include mild swelling and infection, more severe cases of long-term granulomas and permanent scarring.

Recently, there have been many cases of complications after meso injections that required hospitalization due to injections of unknown active ingredients on the market. In addition, if the injector does not have the technique and does not ensure sterility, the injection site can become infected.

Along with that, patients are not carefully instructed or do not follow post-injection instructions, leading to non-sterile injection sites and complications.

Among the cases of complications after meso injection, Dr. Oanh was most impressed with a case of a patient who injected substances of unknown origin, had skin ulcers due to infection, even mistakenly injected facial cleanser into the skin, and finally the damaged area became very swollen, with a hard mass under the skin...

According to Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Oanh, there are two common complications after meso injection: early complications within a few days and late complications after several months to years.

Common early complications are bruising, bleeding, edema, allergies, infections, digestive disorders, and pain. Late complications are post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, granulomas, hypertrophic scars, keloids, and acne.

To avoid complications, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Oanh noted that contraindications to meso injections include infections, allergies to drug ingredients, blood/clotting disorders, keloid constitution, pregnancy/breastfeeding, autoimmune diseases (lupus, scleroderma), moderate or severe inflammatory skin diseases, neurological diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes.

In addition, people who want to beautify with meso need to pay attention to 5 principles, including: Choosing a safe beauty place; getting clear advice about the product; clearly presenting your personal history and medical history; strictly following the doctor's instructions after the procedure and returning for a check-up on time, if there are any unusual signs.

Also regarding complications after cosmetic surgery, recently, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital received a case of Ms. NCT (31 years old, Quang Nam ) who came to the hospital with bilateral breast abscesses due to breast filler injection.

After the filler injection, Ms. T. had symptoms of pain, high fever, and antibiotics did not help. At this time, because of too much pain and fear, she went to Viet Duc Friendship Hospital.

Another case of cosmetic accident that had to be treated at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital was Ms. D.TN (30 years old, Ha Tinh ). Ms. N. is currently living and working in Japan.

She went to a beauty spa in Japan to get filler injections. After only injecting 0.5cc into the middle of her forehead, she felt her eyelids droop, her eyes were dizzy, she felt nauseous and vomited.

Previously, in June 2024, the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital received 5 patients with mercury poisoning due to using cosmetics of unknown origin to treat melasma.

Doctor Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center, these 5 patients all used melasma removal creams containing mercury levels thousands of times higher than the permitted threshold. When using these floating cosmetics, mercury will penetrate the skin and cause poisoning to the user.

“Mercury poisoning is very dangerous, affecting many parts of the body such as: causing kidney failure, brain damage (encephalitis, mental disorders); affecting vision (loss of vision, reduced ability to see or distinguish colors)…”, Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen cited.

Be careful when beautifying

Despite many warnings, the number of hospitalizations due to serious complications from careless and ignorant beauty treatments has increased recently.

Beauty is a legitimate need, but according to medical experts, people need to be alert and careful when choosing cosmetic procedures and facilities to avoid negative effects on health.

Continuously receiving treatment for cases of complications and failed cosmetic procedures, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Huu Doanh, Director of the Central Dermatology Hospital, affirmed that complications related to beauty procedures are mainly due to being performed at unlicensed facilities and the staff performing the procedures are not doctors.

Risks do not only come from surgery, but other beauty methods such as filler injections, botox, meso or laser, skin peeling... all have the risk of complications. As the demand for beauty increases, services and procedures increase, along with complications and cosmetic accidents also increase.

From receiving treatment for many cases of complications due to filler injections, Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Central Dermatology Hospital, said that if the cosmetic procedure is performed correctly and by a specialist, the rate of complications is very low.

However, in reality, the majority of cases of accidents and botched cosmetic procedures that the hospital receives for treatment are due to the fact that the people performing the procedures do not have basic training. They only “learn” from outside training courses, then advertise and introduce themselves as experts and arbitrarily beautify people.

A doctor is someone who is well-trained in anatomy and physiology to know which areas can be intervened and which locations require caution.

For example, with filler injection, Dr. Nguyen Thi Huong Giang, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital said, when the person injecting filler is not a specialist, does not have knowledge of cosmetic surgery and is only a spa employee injecting filler, the risk of injecting into the blood vessels around the eye socket is very high.

The drug will enter the brain through the blood vessels. If the brain is blocked, it will cause a stroke, which is life-threatening. If the eye artery, especially the central retinal artery, is blocked, it will cause blindness. The skin and fatty tissue around the blood supply of the branches around the eye socket will also become necrotic, causing severe facial deformity.

Because the central retinal artery does not have rich anastomoses like those in the skin, once blocked, necrosis of nerve cells leading to blindness will occur very quickly.

Experts recommend that to ensure safety, people should go to reputable medical facilities. The person injecting fillers must be a trained doctor with full knowledge of anatomy, cosmetic surgery, and a practicing certificate.

In addition, it is necessary to choose filler injection products with clear origin, safety and purity verified. After injection, it is necessary to monitor and promptly handle to avoid possible unfortunate consequences.

In case of an unfortunate accident during a cosmetic procedure, it is necessary to try to take the patient to a hospital with modern equipment and a complete multidisciplinary emergency procedure to provide the most effective emergency care for the patient.

Currently, in the world, there are only two or three large centers that can implement a multidisciplinary emergency procedure to help patients recover their vision due to vascular complications after filler injection.

Because fillers are increasingly widely injected and difficult to manage, the number of patients experiencing blindness complications is increasing, with an estimated hundreds of cases recorded worldwide.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/canh-bao-nguy-co-khi-lam-dep-bang-phuong-phap-meso-d220477.html