Experts today sounded the alarm over a little-known side effect of popular looks-enhancing cosmetic fillers.
Thousands of women every year opt for the jabs of medical-grade gel to smooth lines and restore or add volume to the face, such as the lips and cheeks, and the body.
The trend is in part driven by social media influencers and reality TV stars—such as those in ITV’s Love Island, who often sport enhanced pouts.
Lip fillers are so popular among female contestants they’ve been dubbed ‘Love Island Lips’.
But American researchers have made the disturbing discovery that the injections can trigger potentially deadly inflammation in the kidneys.
Experts labelled it a rare and ‘poorly understood’ phenomenon, given it has only been documented in a handful of medical reports.
But they estimate more patients may be suffering the problem than previously believed, with symptoms going under the radar.
The research found these kidney issues have killed at least three people and complications could occur in as little as three hours after the injections.
The injections — full of medical-grade gels that sit beneath skin — are supposedly age-defying and used to smooth lines and restore volume in the face
The trend for lip fillers is in part driven by social media influencers and reality TV stars—such as ITV Love Island star Nicole Samuel, who sports an enhanced pout
Larger than life pouts are such a common feature on the ITV show they’ve been dubbed ‘Love Island Lips’
Harvard University’s Dr Agustin Posso, who presented the study at the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery’s annual meeting in Austin said the ‘alarming’ number of ‘unlicensed or unknown practitioners’ carrying out filler procedures dramatically raised this risk of kidney issues.
‘This underscores the need for stringent regulations and education to ensure that cosmetic interventions are performed by qualified professionals,’ he added.
In the study, researchers analysed reports published between 1984 and 2022 involving 29 patients, with an average age of 47.
Of these 29, 21 had filler injected into the buttocks, while the other eight included the face, leg, breast and hips.
Silicone and methacrylate—a semi-permanent filler used to treat deep wrinkles and scars—were the two most common types of injection used.
While silicone-based fillers are not approved for use cosmetically in the US over fears of their serious long-term risk to health, they can be legally offered in the UK.
Concerns have been raised in recent months after the death of a mother-of-five who had fillers injected into her buttocks.
Alice Webb, 33, reportedly had treatment from self-proclaimed ‘filler-obsessed beautician’ Jordan Parke, also known as The Lip King, before she died in September.
But American researchers have made the disturbing discovery that the injections can trigger potentially deadly inflammation in the kidneys. Pictured: Love Island’s Harriett Blackmore
Chronic kidney disease means the kidneys have lost their ability to filter waste products from the blood, leading to a buildup of toxins and other substances in the body
The researchers found the most common reported kidney-related complication was chronic kidney disease, affecting over half of the patients in the study.
The incurable condition means the kidneys have lost their ability to filter waste products from the blood, leading to a buildup of toxins and other substances in the body and can leave sufferers with issues emptying the bladder.
At an advanced stage, patients must undergo dialysis — a blood-cleaning treatment which requires several trips to hospital every week, with each session lasting hours.
On average kidney-related side effects took five years to emerge, but in one case it was reported in as little as three hours.
While the majority of patients received hydration, such as drips, and steroids to reduce inflammation of the kidneys, six needed to undergo surgery.
Three fatalities were also reported, however the scientists didn’t say how the filler triggered the kidney complications.
Previous research has suggested that injecting too much filler or contaminated filler can lead to granulomas, a tiny clusters of white blood cells that form in the body’s tissues.
Last year, Ashley Stobart, 34, told how after being left with loose, uneven skin from using fillers for more than a decade, she had a surgical face and neck lift. Surgeons speaking to MailOnline also warned of the rise in younger women needing facelift surgery, because their looked had been ‘ruined’ by years of having filler injections
These can trigger hypercalcemia—high levels of calcium in the blood—which has been shown to cause chronic kidney disease and even kidney failure, by causing calcium deposits in the kidneys, reducing their ability to function.
‘For kidney complications to happen, the filler must have got into and been absorbed by the body, rather than sitting where it’s been injected,’ Dr Nora Nugent, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, told MailOnline.
‘It may have also contained additional substances that could have potentially harmed the kidneys.’
UK-based consultant plastic surgeon Patrick Mallucci added: ‘Sadly, of course, much of this happens at the cheaper end of the market where people are looking to save money.
‘We’ve all seen problems related to this and renal [kidney] complications are of real significance.
‘However, there are other products on the market that are now thankfully beginning to replace fillers.
‘Biostimulators, nucleotides and peptides for example are just more sophisticated.
‘They cause biological change for the good in skin, rather than just filling out.’
Unlike fillers, which inject volume into the face, biostimulator injectables work by stimulating cells known as fibroblasts to continue producing collagen and elastin.
This helps the skin to naturally produce its own volume.
Dermal fillers are among the most commonly requested cosmetic procedures in Britain, alongside laser hair removal and Botox injections.
Once the preserve of middle-aged women looking for an anti-ageing fix, the number of teens and twentysomethings opting for them has soared.
However, experts have raised concern over filler migrating and sticking around in areas of the face years after they were set to dissolve.
Surgeons speaking to MailOnline last year also warned of the rise in younger women needing facelift surgery, because their looked had been ‘ruined’ by years of having filler injections.
A proposed Government licensing scheme — which would make those doing fillings meet standards of training and competence — was stalled by the general election last year.
But there have been fresh calls to introduce new legislation to combat the ’emergent health crisis’ of unregulated filler on the high street among MPs.
In January, Commons leader Lucy Powell confirmed the Government was still planning to put forward new measures.
