Beware of Medspas for Filler Procedures! - Waltham, MA

I went to a medspa in Waltham, MA to get filler injections. My primary goal was to soften the look of my nasolabial folds, so that they would not look so pronounced. I had just moved to the state, and had no clue where to go, so I just decided to do the easiest thing and head to the nearest medspa. The injector was not a doctor, but a nurse, who claimed to have 15 years experience injecting. She threw around a lot of fancy medical terminology, spoke with extreme confidence, and had a pretty pleasant personality, so I figured, why not. She seemed competent enough. I told her my goal was to soften my nasolabial creases, and nothing else. Apparently she had something else in mind. When she was done, I ended up with puffed up areas on both sides of my face, that looked like swelling. After two weeks the swelling did not subside. To make matters worse, there were large indentations where the nasolabial creases were. I literally looked like I had dents in my face. Instead of decreasing the look of the creases, they were now exaggerated and worse looking than before. My husband, who is usually oblivious to these things, even asked me if I lost weight, because my face looked a bit sunken in. Not exactly the look I was trying to achieve! My cheeks also looked puffed up, like a chipmunk. I did not take the best pics, but hopefully the ones I have posted here illustrate what is obviously a worsening of the creases.

I called her up and explained to her what had happened. She told me some people experience swelling for a month, so I patiently waited for this "swelling" to go away. It didn't. I went back to her, and she decided to add more filler. I ended up looking even worse. I knew that what I had experienced was not normal, at all. I had fillers done for the same purpose in the past, and had always been pleased with the results. The results were subtle, but that was all I was asking for. I have always been realistic in my goals. I am not one of those people who expects to look 10 years younger.

Instead of sulking about it, I got the courage to call her up and tell her that this is not acceptable, and that I wanted the filler dissolved and to get my money back. Thankfully, she obliged. However, she persisted in making me feel like this was all in my head, and that there was no problem. She tried to convince me with before and after photos that she took that there was improvement, but of course, if you are taking pics with an expensive Iphone in a very bright unnatural light and with flash, indentations and swelling are going to get blurred out. All in all, this was a horrible experience. I wanted to share this with you all so that you don't be stupid like me and ignore your research. Go with someone who has positive reviews that are documented on the internet. This is your face, and you deserve to be happy with the results, especially after spending a small fortune on it.

I am not going to name this person because I suppose she could have easily refused to give me my money back and made things even more difficult for me, so I am choosing to take the high road, as it were, and leave things as they stand. My purpose in this post is simply to prevent this from happening to others. Please folks, just be wary of people out there who claim they are experts, without any positive recommendations. And also be wary if they look overdone. That was the first thing I noticed about her. My instinct told me when I saw her face that this may not be a good decision, because clearly we both have different ideas of what is aesthetically pleasing. You just need to trust your gut, and not ignore common sense when it comes to these things. This is just my opinion, and am in no way angry or vindictive. As I said before, this could have gone much worse and she could have refused to refund my money and work with me. My goal is just to educate. Please make an informed decision about injections, because they can go very awry, as in my experience.