Scan Show Hidden Dangers Of Facial Fillers For Anyone Receiving Injection For Cosmetic Purposes

A 28-year-old woman refused to dismiss the “rare complication” warnings after a scan showed something much scarier than bruising or swelling. The images revealed blood flow problems in tiny facial vessels that should have been carrying blood normally.

Here’s the twist, it wasn’t just about fillers going wrong in a dramatic way. In less than half of patients, blood flow to small vessels tied to both surface arteries and deeper facial routes was absent, and about a third had major arteries showing no blood flow at all.

Now the real question is whether the procedure is being done with eyes wide open, or with the injector going in blind.

Dermal fillers may cause damage to arteries and blood vessels

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The scans showing missing blood flow in tiny surface and deeper facial vessels made it clear this wasn’t just a theoretical risk, it was showing up on imaging in real people.

This procedure, however rare, describes filler being accidentally injected into or too near a blood vessel. These scans revealed that blood flow to several tiny vessels related to both surface arteries and those located deeper into the face was absent in less than half of the patients.

An ultrasound of a patient's lip reveals a section of an artery with no blood flow

Rosa Maria Silveira Sigrist, M.D., and RSNA

Then the ultrasound of a patient’s lip, with a section of artery showing no blood flow, turned “accidental injection” into something you could actually picture.

Additionally, a third of the individuals under study had many major blood arteries with no blood flow. As we say, this process has the potential to cause irreversible blindness in addition to killing healthy facial tissue and possibly causing a deformity.

This is the same kind of “tiny mistake, huge consequences” risk as vaping laws that can land offenders up to 10 years in prison.

Given that nasal blood arteries connect to several key areas of the head and brain, this is particularly crucial in situations involving nasal injections

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When nasal injections entered the conversation, the stakes jumped again, since nasal blood arteries connect to key areas of the head and brain.

"If injectors are not guided by ultrasound, they treat based on where the clinical findings are and inject blindly," she explained. "But if we can see the ultrasound finding, we can target the exact place where the occlusion occurs."

Additionally, rather than over-flooding the area with hyaluronidase, clinicians advised giving guided injections using ultrasound scans that use less of the medicine.

According to reports, dermal fillers pose a significant health danger

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And once the guidance shifted from blind injecting to ultrasound-targeted placement, the whole story became about what happens when the injector can see the exact spot where blockage occurs.

Nora Nugent, head of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), concurred that these scans ought to be the global standard of care. "Mapping out the location of blood vessels undoubtedly provides valuable information ahead of treatment," she explained.

"Risks like these from dermal fillers are one of the many reasons why we have been campaigning for a long time for increased regulation of aesthetic procedures and restricting the provision of medical procedures like injectable treatments to those who have medical training."

So, would you be going for a facial filler? Leave your thoughts in the comment section and share as well.

Nobody wants their face to become the test site for a procedure that can steal blood flow and leave lasting damage behind.

Want more fallout from a celebrity label, see Moby’s response to Natalie Portman calling him “creepy”.