Please Be Careful when Choosing a Doctor.

I thought I would wait to write this review until the “final” results emerge. However, after really thinking about the way I have been treated, even if by some miracle my lips resolve, I feel I need to protect others, especially young women, from what I’ve been through. Walking through the doors of Elite has been the worst thing that has ever happened to me and I’ve done nothing but day dream that I ran out of that place and never looked back.

I chose Airsculpt because I have wanted chin lipo done for the three years, and wanted something minimally invasive + a quick recovery. I met with Doctor Nalluri & Genesis, who assured me I was a great candidate and offered a fat transfer at a discounted rate. I didn’t know what a fat transfer was so I stated that I would think about it. Once in the office with Genesis, she again, brought up the fat transfer. She pointed out that I had “thin lips” and could benefit from the fat transfer to that area, she said it was like an even safer, more natural version of lip filler. I then asked her to tell me more about the procedure to which she stated that it was fairly simple. Not once was I informed that it was practically irreversible, that if I gain weight my lips would gain weight, or the risk of fat embolisms or necrosis. NEVER would I have agreed to this if I knew any of these things. I genuinely thought, because of the casual way in which it was brought up, that I would just be slightly swollen for a couple of days.

I returned to the office the morning of my procedure and asked Genesis whether she believed that I needed the skin tightening addition, she told me no, that I was young, my skin would “snap back” and again recommended the lip fat transfer instead. The procedure was traumatic, I don’t understand why it is labeled as minimally invasive but perhaps it was worse for me because I refused pain pills & laughing gas. Either way it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was handed a mirror after the procedure & the look of my lips was genuinely terrifying. I had no idea I would be overfilled this way. I was so swollen & sore I wasn’t able to speak or eat normally for days.

In the days after the procedure I spent a lot of time reading about fat transfers, + getting opinions from other surgeons. I read that fat transfers are primarily used for elderly people who have lost facial volume due to aging and are not typically done on younger people. Nor do most surgeons recommend fat transfer to the lips. Most will not even offer this procedure, if they do they are incredibly careful not to overfill because of the permanency, they would rather do it over multiple sessions. Doctor Nalluri overfilled me without my consent and on top of that, spent about ten minutes on the procedure without assessing my lips and their shape prior so he injected the fat way too high and now I have bulges when I smile.

Two weeks after the procedure I noticed my smile becoming deformed, a fat necrosis bump + excess fat above my top right lip. I scheduled two follow ups with Dr. Nalluri in which he repeatedly told me that this was “swelling”. Neither of these issues are swelling. He refused to look at the bump on my lip and recommended I see a therapist. He continued to tell me that all of the issues I saw were “in my head” and that I had body dysmorphia. I also noticed my chin having no decrease in volume but instead just developed saggy skin, turns out I needed the skin tightening treatment. I also have scars from the tubes they placed in FIVE different parts of my face.

I am a very normal, social person with a college degree + two jobs. I have had multiple tattoos, piercings, & even previous cosmetic surgery. Not once have I gone back to my artists or surgeons begging for them to resolve an issue. This is my smile, my laugh, my face, and it is a mistake I am going to have to pay for the rest of my life.

My hope in writing this is that surgeons will see these procedures as more than a quick upsell and actually take the time to think about the lives they are altering. I have had some serious depression symptoms due to the results and the way I have been gaslighted by the staff at Airsculpt. I have had to get back into therapy for the first time in almost three years. They have made it obvious that they have no intention on helping me & that I will have to look elsewhere for a resolution. I am more insecure now than ever. I always thought I had pretty facial features and now that has been taken away from me at the age of 26. I should’ve had many more years with my own smile. I truly don’t know how to move forward from this.