I had bio-alcamid injected in my cheeks, temples, nasolabial folds and edges of my lips while living in Europe. This was hands-down the stupidest thing I've ever done. Not only did it not improve my looks (it did NOT look natural) but, years later, I developed a horrible infection as a result of trying to have it removed. When they injected it they told me it could be removed if I wasn't happy with it but in fact this is not at all easy.
Back in the US I finally decided to try to get the awful stuff out. My skin tone was becoming more lax with age and the stuff was quite visible as lumps under my skin. I found a reputable cosmetic surgeon who was willing to try.
With great difficulty he extracted some of it with a large needle. He had never done this before; it was trial and error, but he wanted to help me. I would say it was about 50% successful. We did this in several sessions, which were quite expensive, and the third time, a few days afterwards I developed an infection on the site where he had attempted to remove the gel.
The infection grew worse and worse in spite of my taking antibiotics. I developed a huge abcess in my cheek which, after about a week, popped. This is very dangerous. If pus from an abscess gets into your bloodstream you can die, which is why abscesses should always be drained. But my doctor didn't do anything - I think he was afraid to touch it. When it popped and started to ooze pus my whole face swelled up. I called the doctor and he rushed me to the emergency room where I had surgery to clean out the abscess. It was the most traumatic experience of my life.
I spent 2 days in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics. I ended up with a cheek stuffed full of gauze which I had to pull out myself a bit every day while the abscess closed. Now, a year later I still have a scar on my cheek from the surgery and I still have lumps of bio-alcamid in my face. I would like to have more removed but I'm afraid of more infections. Afterwards I found out by googling that the gel has a high rate of infection.
I emailed the doctor in Europe and she was very apologetic, she said they hadn't know the risks when they started using it, and that she didn't know how I could get it out. I am still hoping to get it out of my face somehow; any tips would be welcome.
