Scottish woman tells of three year nightmare after she developed 'trout pout' after lip fillers

A woman has told of her three-year nightmare after she developed a ‘trout pout’ like Leslie Ash when she had filler to add volume to her lips.

Kay Smith, 53, said her lips blew up just like the Men Behaving Badly actress.

Kay Smith, 53, said her lips blew up just like the Men Behaving Badly actress.

Her case was made worse by the fact that the filler expanded with a rise in temperature, so every time she went on holiday to the sun her lips got even bigger.

Kay said: “It was a total nightmare.

Her case was made worse by the fact that the filler expanded with a rise in temperature, so every time she went on holiday to the sun her lips got even bigger.

“Like a lot of women in middle-age, I had lost a bit of volume in my lips and I thought I would look better with some filler to plump them up.

“My case was totally different to Leslie Ash because while she had permanent fillers which went wrong, my filler was only supposed to be temporary. It was just a little pick-me-up to boost my body confidence for a few months as a 50th birthday present.

“Unfortunately my body reacted against the strain of filler used in my lips and they swelled up.

“Over time, they did get smaller but then they would swell up again when the air temperature rose.

“I remember being on holiday with my daughter in Mallorca and she looked at my face and said: ‘Mum, have you had your lips done again?’

“I realised that I was always going to have this problem if I did not get some expert help.”

Kay, of Darvel, East Ayrshire, consulted Dr Judy Todd, one of the leading experts in aesethetic medicine in Scotland, who runs Synergy Clinic in Glasgow.

Dr Todd is also a consultant anaesthetist at University Hospital in Ayr - so Kay knew she was in the hands of a medical expert.

Dr Todd injected Kay's lips with Hyalase - an enzyme that breaks down the hyaluronic acid that the rogue filler is made of.

It is only available on prescription, so disreputable clinics cannot use it in cases that go wrong.

Dr Todd then injected Kay with the premium lip filler RHA Kiss by Teoxane which she did not react badly to - rehydrating her lips more naturally and adding a little volume.

Kay said: “My went down immediately after the Hyalase. It was like watching a tyre deflate. Dr Todd then plumped up my lips nicely with some excellent filler and I had really natural looking younger lips.

“I only wish I had gone to see Dr Todd earlier because she sorted out the problem overnight.

“I was just unlucky with my first treatment. I went to a reputable practitioner but my body reacted badly.

“That can happen in a tiny percentage of cases and I was just one of the unfortunate ones.

“What I had not prepared for was that the problem would continue for three years because of the impact warm weather had on my lips.”

Kay has not been put off having other anti-ageing treatments but she will only use a medical expert such as Dr Todd.

She said: “You need to be very careful about your choice of clinic. No one should be doing injectables such as filler and Botox unless they are a trained doctor. Far fewer cases like mine would happen if the industry was better regulated."

Dr Todd called for much tougher regulation of all clinics offering injectable anti-ageing treatments such as filler and Botox.

She said: “Unfortunately there are a lot of cowboys out there. People set up clinics with no medical background and start injecting people after one day’s training. It is no wonder that some people end up with swollen lips.

“You would not see a doctor who was not properly trained, yet thousands of people take risks with their health by getting aesethetic treatments from people who are completely unqualified.”

Dr Todd said that she often does ‘repair work’ on women whose filler treatments have gone wrong.

She said: “There are fairly simple remedies if the filler is not permanent and I was delighted that I was able to sort out Kay’s case so quickly.

“Lots of women come to me after their appearance has been ruined by cowboy practitioners. They know that, as a doctor, I have the expertise to put things right and I will not cut any corners on safety.”

Dr Todd said that 4% of the adult population in Scotland (217,000 people) have undergone a private cosmetic treatment.

She said: "The industry is booming in part because many people are aspiring to the beauty standards set by TV programmes such as Love Island and Towie, which set unrealistic images of beauty.

"Millennials are making alterations to their body to mirror those on screen. As a consequence, a number of unscrupulous and under-qualified clinics are popping up offering cut-price treatments that compromise patient safety, lead to poor results and take advantage of patent's naivety to legal healthcare standards."