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Do Not Do Permanent Fillers! Pretty Sure I Now Have A Granuloma Years Later.

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(@tricia)

Posted : 01/08/2015 3:58 pm

It sucks. It really does. And I did research both silicone and artefill before I had them injected but I guess I just didn't want to believe the granuloma would happen to me. I didn't even get THAT much injected, but now, years and years later, my derm does think I have a probable granuloma from it. And since I messed with it, probably an infection with it. So I am on septra right now and will go back in a week for possible kenalog shot. This derm is nice and is going to research more on how to deal with "filler failures" as he put it.

Filler just weren't worth it for me, didn't even really fill in my scars. I do believe they moved and got infected. Maybe I'll survive this, but it has been hell for the past week with the swelling and pain. No one should have to go through this. Just don't get injections period, they all have the possibilities for granulomas.

I haven't had a histological confirmation, but sometimes you just know. Anyone with similar experience, please share, we need to make these things for public, as I don't think they get reported as much as they happen. Prayers appreciated.

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(@no_hope)

Posted : 01/08/2015 9:49 pm

im so sorry your experiencing this right now. i remember back when you first got the injections i guess it rly is true the risk is not worth it at all. although i never had any permanent filler before i have a problem with juvederm that i had in the past . fillers are really unpredictable everyone one must be fully aware of the risks involved sometimes its just not worth it. i hope everything turns out fine for you tricia . wish you the best of luck!

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MemberMember
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(@tricia)

Posted : 01/08/2015 10:20 pm

Thanks! I know I have always had very reactive, sensitive skin, but when you feel a bead like lump and then get the spreading of inflammation, it makes me think the fillers were the cause. Just don't know if it was the artefill or silicone. My main thing now is to keep in touch with a good derm and work on keeping the inflammation down. Maybe it will be manageable, just not worth it at all. Kind of hard to believe I saw practically no filling at all when injected, but now all these years later get a granuloma.

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270
(@blahblahblahblahz)

Posted : 01/11/2015 12:20 am

@Tricia, what exactly is happening to the injected sites? Do you have visible lumps and inflammation / swelling? How many times were you injected with both?

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(@skullkid87)

Posted : 01/12/2015 12:20 pm

i had restylane done, is that same as your procedures ?

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(@austra)

Posted : 01/16/2015 8:16 am

Sorry to hear about the possible granuloma, tricia! :( At least it seems like you're in good hands, so hopefully it will heal well. Do you know what the usual treatment plan for this is? Is it just cortisone shots + antibiotics, or is it going to be surgically removed?

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(@tricia)

Posted : 01/18/2015 1:32 am

Well, at first my derm told me to take Septra DS and use desonide cream to get the swelling down. And it worked for a bit, it got smaller. Then guess what? I all of a sudden became allergic to Septra after 7 days on it and got the EM Minor rash. I could not even make this stuff up. So I have been itching from hives all over the last few days, but luckily with the help of prednisone, zantac, benadryl and zyrtec I think I will recover. Surprised how much Zantac can help allergic reactions.

Anyways, my doctor was kind of suspicious of my skin sensitivity and healing when I went back and kind of wants to biopsy it when it fully heals to see if it might be discoid lupus or silicone granuloma. I really don't want a biopsy because of the scar it will leave. Plus I don't think I have the discoid lupus. I think it is a granuloma and I wish the derm would do more than just give me prednisone. But right now I am putting some manuka honey on it to see if it can heal the granulated tissue. The swelling is better and it did shrink, but my skin just can't seem to fully heal through this weird tissue well. I really don't know what the usual treatment is, probably kenalog injections.

Sorry to hear about the possible granuloma, tricia! At least it seems like you're in good hands, so hopefully it will heal well. Do you know what the usual treatment plan for this is? Is it just cortisone shots + antibiotics, or is it going to be surgically removed?

No, but there is a risk of granuloma with all fillers.

i had restylane done, is that same as your procedures ?

I had a lump appear up higher where I had never been injected, but I think the fillers (either artefill or silicone) could have moved. Then it seemed to spread down my face until it hit an area where I do know I had filler and then eventually that really swelled, and I did mess with it some, which of course blew it up. Also, at first, I got prescribed betamethasone which I believe was too strong for my skin there, which may have screwed it up more. My derm said I really should have been given desonide, a gentler corticosteroid. So because of the irritation it likely got way worse. I just had a tiny bit of artefill injected once on the left cheek. I was injected probably 2 -3 times with silicone in the areas near where I got the granuloma. Not a lot because of microdroplet method, but you never know how your skin will react even to just a tad of any filler. I still feel lumps under my skin near scarred areas, but I can't be sure that some of that isn't scar tissue. There is times I think my skin does seem a bit swollen and stretched. I think the artefill causes more lumpiness than silicone, it is thicker substance. However, silicone is more permanent. It would be interesting to get it biopsied, but if it heals without a scar, I won't have it cut into. If it scars pretty bad (which seems likely at this point) I guess a 2mm punch biopsy with 2 stitches won't make it look too much worse.

Also, forgot to mention he did swab it at first appointment to see if there was any infection and there wasn't. Yet, I think the antibiotic really did help for the first 7 days. Just odd my body then picked that day to become allergic to an antibiotic I had never been allergic to before. But I guess it can happen to anyone at any age. Scary rash!!

@Tricia, what exactly is happening to the injected sites? Do you have visible lumps and inflammation / swelling? How many times were you injected with both?

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(@blahblahblahblahz)

Posted : 01/18/2015 10:47 am

Hey Tricia

Are you accepting private messages?

So it would seem the inflammation / lumps are quite visible? I'm a little confused about the part where you mentioned that you are having a hard time healing and where you said you "messed with it." Did you try to lance it or something and now it created a wound? I'm assuming that because you mentioned granulating tissue, which indicates to me an open wound.

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(@tricia)

Posted : 01/18/2015 3:14 pm

Yes, I believe I can still receive private messages. When my swelling moved down my face (almost like cellulitis, yet doctor said not infection when swabbed) it did create a pocket of raised skin on the corner of my chin below lip. It looked odd. I thought I could massage it but realized I was just creating more fluid under the skin. I thought I could drain the fluid out. I knew it would create a superficial wound. So it was very superficial at first. But I did use the betamethasone on it, that was prescribed by urgent care doctor. It was probably not good to put any of that on any open area. Of course, I should have never been messing with it at all. It seemed to make this "lacey tissue" which I thought could be staff infection, so I then put this silver ointment on it. But again, the doctor later said no infection, just incredible inflammation going on. After reading up on granuloma tissue, it is described as having a "holey" appearance. I think that's what I was seeing in the tissue.

I do think the CVS manuka honey adhesive bandages are helping to heal the tissue. It does look pretty indented right now, but I want to wait it out with these bandages and see if perhaps it will fill in. Still not excited to biopsy it!

Also, my other lumps are not visible, I can just feel them if I press my finger down hard on my cheek and move it downward. It's like a little bit of a rolling effect in some areas.

 

Hey Tricia

Are you accepting private messages?

So it would seem the inflammation / lumps are quite visible? I'm a little confused about the part where you mentioned that you are having a hard time healing and where you said you "messed with it." Did you try to lance it or something and now it created a wound? I'm assuming that because you mentioned granulating tissue, which indicates to me an open wound.

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MemberMember
270
(@blahblahblahblahz)

Posted : 01/18/2015 3:24 pm

Tried to message you but I can't seem to send anything.

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MemberMember
19
(@tricia)

Posted : 01/18/2015 3:40 pm

It seems I was at full storage on messages so I deleted some, try again :)

Tried to message you but I can't seem to send anything.

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