A teenager was left with 'sausage lips' after a filler appointment left her looking 'deformed'.
Lauren Winstanley had never liked her 'small' lips so forked out £170 ($218) to get 1.5ml of filler injected to achieve that fuller look.
However, the 18-year-old's dream quickly turned into a nightmare when her lips rapidly ballooned to triple their size and she was hospitalised for a week.
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She is now urging others who are thinking of having the same procedure done to seek advice from a medically trained professional.
Lauren, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, said: "They started swelling straight away, when I looked in the mirror at them I was shocked because I'd never seen myself with bigger lips.
"The beautician said the swelling would go down and I listened to her and thought 'fair enough'.
"They were hurting ahead of my night shift starting and over the next few hours they grew bigger and bigger and ended up triple the size they should be.
"When I left work my bottom lip in particular was massive and it was starting to feel really sore."
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A day after having the filler, Lauren went to Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, where staff assessed her lips and sent her home with a course of antibiotics and painkillers.
But things didn't improve and the pain got steadily worse that evening. After dialling 999, the terrified teen was rushed to Whiston Hospital in Rainhill, Merseyside.
Staff hooked Lauren up to an IV drip and she underwent surgery to drain the fluid from her lips. Tests found she had Group A strep infection.
Lauren said: "I was crying because I was in that much pain, when I looked in the mirror I remember thinking I looked deformed, it was vile.
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"My lips looked like rock solid sausages and felt bruised and were stinging. I started to feel sick, had a temperature and my neck and cheek felt bruised.
"I couldn't eat or drink as my lips were still triple their usual size and kept growing and filling with green and yellow pus.
"They were that full under my lip you could see little white holes, which was the infection working its way out of my lip."
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She continued: "When the doctor tried draining them while I was awake I ended up screaming and crying. I begged them to put me to sleep while they drained them as I was in agony.
"When I looked at myself in the mirror it knocked me sick, my lips were disgusting."
Lauren spent a week in hospital before being discharged with antibiotics and painkillers.
The scarred teen is now dealing with the aftermath of the botched job, including lumpy lips, a partial loss of sensation and pain when she presses down in her lower lip.
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Lauren has since learnt that the beautician who performed the procedure had reportedly only been trained five months prior to her appointment.
She said: "I wish I'd have paid extra and had it done by someone medically trained like a dentist or dermal nurse.
"They're all lumpy and when I press down there's a sharp pain in my lower lip and the bottom left-hand side of my lip feels slightly numb.
"It's put me off getting them done again in future. I would never wish that pain on anyone, it was traumatising.
She added: "To anyone who is thinking of getting their lips done, do your research properly. Go to someone who is medically trained and who is able to deal with any problems that might occur."
Professor Ash Mosahebi, Council Member for BAAPS, said: "Giving treatments in a non-clinical environment without backup and emergency facilities is hazardous even in the expert hand.
"When this is combined with poorly trained practitioner then it is a recipe for disaster."
The salon owner was contacted for comment and said that she thought the swollen lips were due to an 'infection' Lauren caught and was not related to the filler.
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and MediaTopics: Science, UK News, Interesting, Hospital, Manchester, Health