Shxx! My Discounted "Sheep Placenta" Injection Turned Out to be .............

This woman was a go-between for an unlicensed travelling doctor from China who specialized in "Sheep Placenta" injection amongst other things. She was impressed that patents who had had cheek injection of the "Sheep Placenta" immediately achieve wonderful contours. The injections were performed either in some hotel rooms or the doctor would pay home visits. After seeing the miraculous results, she decided to have a go and asked for free injection but the doctor only agreed 50% discount saying "My dear, this "Sheep Placenta" is extremely expansive and comes all the way from Switzerland. I only agree to give you 50% discount because you are such as a good go-between in bringing me patients. If all my go-betweens get free treatments, I would go bankrupt!" Thinking that she got a good deal, she could not wait to have the injections to get her new cheeks.

While her cheeks looked good in the first year, she started to notice something not quite right as the injected areas became harder with time and appeared to grow in size. She came to see me for eyebag removal. However, the swollen areas appeared hard and not mobile suggesting some foreign particles had been injected. She desperatedly wanted the things taken out so I performed lower eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and removed the hard particles. These were sent for analysis and the pathologist reported these as foreign materials most likely to be from silicone injection.

Hardened and swollen cheeks from the injection.

Hardened areas excised as hard masses firmly attached

to the skin and muscles.

Histology showed chronic inflammation consistent

with silicone injection.

Silicone injection is illegal because it can cause tissue distortion as a result of chronic inflammation. As the distortion may take more than a year to develop, the "doctors" can conveniently deny the distortions are the result of their injections. Unfortunately, silicone injection is used widely in many nonlicensed aesthetic centres and packaged as "Sheep Placenta". It is not surpising as the profit margin is very high. A bucket of silicone costs a few hundred ringgits and the operators can make hundred of injections out of it charging anything from a few hundreds to a few thousands each session.

In a way, this woman had it easy as she was only given injectioins to the cheek. I dread to think of those gullible women that had had full facial treatment. Some of them may well end up like these unfortunate women.

Distorted and lumpy areas as a results of previous

silicone injections.

The following is warning from FDA (USA Food and Drug Adminstration) "the marketing of liquid silicone for injection for any cosmetic purpose, including the treatment of facial defects or wrinkles, or enlarging the breasts are not approved. The adverse effects of liquid silicone injections have included movement of the silicone to other parts of the body, inflammation and discoloration of surrounding tissues, and the formation of granulomas (nodules of granulated, inflamed tissue)."

Moral of the Lesson: "Don't receive any injection from unqualified personnels even if it is discounted and do not introduce your friends to them either!"