Alicia’s case

Biopolymer extraction refers to silicone oil (polymethylsiloxane), also known as biopolymer, is the most commonly used filler in aesthetic medicine.

The infiltration of liquid silicone is prohibited, it is a practice that can cause serious complications. If the extraction of liquid silicone is not performed in time, this product causes facial paralysis if it comes into contact with the muscle, disfigurement of the face and bacteria and fungi can appear. The most frequent complication is the formation of siliconomas or the migration of the substance to nearby tissues.

Displacement due to gravity, inflammation and discoloration of the surrounding tissues is common, granuloma formation, and infection of the recipient site are common complications. They also cause long-term problems and even death, which is why lip biopolymer removal is of vital importance.

Patients have resorted to biopolymers because of their low cost, but due to their high toxicity and health risk they have been banned. Cases are described of biopolymers on the face, lips and breasts with truly terrible results.

Safety is a priority for the cosmetic surgeon, these substances (biopolymers) are still used in Latin American countries although their use is prohibited.

We approach the problem of biopolymers in lips in two ways:

-There are patients who come to a consultation with an allergic or autoimmune reaction against the substance that was injected at the time. They develop as a rejection reaction to the product. They are patients who live with permanently swollen mouth or furrows, needing inflammatory steroids or corticosteroids on a regular basis to keep the lips deflated. In these cases we try to remove the product completely. It is true that this in turn involves the removal of part of the lip tissue where the product had infiltrated, as a result we get a very thin lip. After this surgery we suggest other types of lip augmentation procedures to restore the aesthetic volume.

-Most of the patients come to our office because of the appearance, in the area injected with the product, of granulomas that are annoying and even painful; but there is not really a rejection to this product. We address this situation without removing the entire product, but only the part that deforms and enlarges the lip. In this area, in addition to the product, we remove part of the mucosa so that when we reduce the volume of the lip there is no redundant skin, obtaining a harmonious lip. The patient is satisfied from the first moment because he/she can see that he/she keeps an adequate volume in his/her lip.

We consider that the patient had the procedure done to increase the volume of his lips so we try not to remove all the product to maintain the harmonic volume of the lip. So that the result is not a thin lip.

In the case of allergic reactions, we do have to remove the product completely. In these situations we may suggest other lip augmentation methods to the patient to be performed after the biopolymer removal procedure to complete the aesthetic result.