Influencer loses lip after facial harmonization with PMMA: “I might just cry”

Mariana Michelini, 35, asks for help on social media to pay for treatment and hospitalization to eliminate the substance from her body

On a daily basis, to his almost 30 thousand followers, the influencer Mariana Michelini, 35, shares her battle to heal from the effects of applying the substance polymethylmethacrylate – known as PMMA – to her face during a cosmetic treatment. After some complications, Mariana had to undergo surgery to try to remove the chemical from her body, but she has to date failed to do so completely. In the midst of her attempts, she lost her upper lip.

The procedure was carried out in 2020, through an exchange with a healthcare professional to perform facial harmonization. Immediately, looking in the mirror, Mariana was happy with the result and recommended the professional’s work to her followers. Six months later, however, the nightmare began.

“In June 2021 I woke up with my lips and chin swollen, red and very painful. I went back to this professional, but she was very nervous and didn’t know how to proceed. So I went to a dermatologist in my city who prescribed antibiotics and steroids,” he says, but the drugs had no effect.

At the time, Mariana exposed the situation to her followers and ended up being reported by the professional who had helped her. Today you cannot name the person or the clinic where you performed the surgery.

The influencer shared her story in detail in a written statement initially released Folha de S. Paulo and also transferred to Earth. He explains that, after recently having had another surgery on her mouth area, she is recovering and is unable to speak.

Check out the full statement:

During the Covid pandemic, in 2020, two events permanently affected my life. The first was my mother’s death in June. The second was a facial harmonization, in December, which led to the loss of my upper lip, which I am still undergoing surgery to try to reconstruct.

I went to college and worked as a pharmacy clerk. But, with my mother’s death, I had to stop studying and find another source of income to pay the bills. So I started being a model and influencer on my social networks, promoting the brands that were looking for me. I did these jobs for pay, but some were done through barter. This is how, in exchange for facial harmonization, I posted an ad for a healthcare provider in my city.

I went to his clinic and had fillers on my lips, chin and cheekbones. The result was beautiful and I left the office super satisfied. At the time, in addition to posting on social media, I was also living several lives during the pandemic. So I told my followers what it was like to have the surgery, who I did it with, I said I really liked it, everything that was part of the promotion.

Until one day, six months later, in June 2021, I woke up with my lips and chin swollen, red and sore. I went back to this professional, but she was very nervous and didn’t know how to proceed. So I went to a dermatologist in my city who prescribed me antibiotics and steroids. During that time I was still in contact with the professional who performed my filling and she said that she would cover the costs of the inflammation treatment I was having with this doctor.

But the medicines didn’t have much effect, so this dermatologist referred me to Dr. Carlos Roberto Antonio, also a dermatologist and working in the city of São José do Rio Preto. When I arrived at his office, we still thought that the material that had been applied to me was hyaluronic acid. Then he applied the enzyme hyaluronidase, which is capable of dissolving this product, but nothing changed.

Dr. Carlos was suspicious and took some material from my lip to do a biopsy. Only when the results of this test arrived did we discover that the harmonization professional had used PMMA on me and not hyaluronic acid.

I was desperate, I looked online and saw that several women had died after undergoing PMMA procedures. I could only cry, not knowing what would happen to me. I sued the harmonization professional and told her what happened on social media. But she sued me too and I can’t say her name or her profession.

Initially, Dr. Carlos opted for a more conservative treatment, removing small parts of the product if necessary and applying a laser to the area to reduce swelling. I also had to continue taking corticosteroids and antibiotics.

The swelling went down a bit, but the pain was still so bad that sometimes I couldn’t brush my teeth. It was an excruciating, unbearable pain.

In May 2022, despite undergoing this treatment, I also started to feel pain above my upper lip, in the upper lip area. Dr. Carlos explained that the PMMA was migrating, moving up from the lip to this area. He said I would have to have the product removed by a surgeon.

Chatting online with other women who also had problems with aesthetic treatments, they recommended Alberto Goldman, a plastic surgeon specialized in the removal of PMMA with laser.

I had a virtual consultation with him and he also wanted to talk to Dr. Carlos to understand my case better. But Dr. Alberto’s clinic is in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, how would I have found the money to have the operation and go there?

Despite the fear and uncertainty, I had a lot of faith that I would make it. I explained my situation on social media and many people helped me pay for tickets and accommodation.

Doctor Alberto was an angel, who treated me as if I were his own daughter. But unfortunately it was necessary to remove the upper lip and the upper lip, because the PMMA had already affected the tissues a lot. He also removed the PMMA from my chin and placed a skin graft, which he took from the back of my ear.

Then my battle for lip reconstruction began. Last year, a follower told me about Dr. Raulino Brasil, from Palhoça (SC), a specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery and traumatology.

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.