The use of fillers can lead to dying of skin tissue and, in the worst case, even blindness, scientists at Erasmus MC conclude in a study published on Tuesday in the journal Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
According to the study, skin tissue dies in about one in every six thousand injections worldwide. “Although the chance is not very high, the impact if things go wrong is great,” says dermatologist and researcher Peter Velthuis in conversation with NU.nl. “It is the severity of the complications that makes the injections risky.”
According to Velthuis, about 2 percent of treatments go wrong in the Netherlands. “We often see that the skin around the mouth and nose dies,” said the researcher.
Until now, blindness is rare in the Netherlands; according to Velthuis, only one case is known so far. Especially in Asia, injections regularly lead to complications around the eyes, because fillers are often injected too close to the eye.
Velthuis emphasizes that dying off skin tissue can be repaired, but it must be recognized and treated quickly. “A countermeasure must then be injected within a short period of time,” he says.
The most important thing, however, is to avoid the complications, by examining the blood vessels before the treatment so that they are not hit.
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