Caracas (AFP) – Maria Sanchez walks slowly through her home in the Venezuelan capital with two surgical drainage bags hanging from her waist — the nightmarish result of her quest for the perfect derriere.
Almost a decade ago she underwent a back enhancement procedure, which has grown in popularity as women yearn for a figure popularized by celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez or Kim Kardashian.
“I was crippled,” the 50-year-old tells AFP, but “I had to take the consequences.”
In 2006, she was injected with what is known as a biopolymer, a term commonly used to refer to products of natural origin, but which also includes synthetic silicone or even paraffin fillers.
Sanchez now has a scar on her lower back as a painful reminder of the reconstructive surgery in which doctors were able to remove 90 percent of the filler.
Fillers, considered a cheaper and less invasive alternative to fat grafting, are injected and expanded within the body.
Their use was banned in Venezuela in 2012 after years of mass commercialization in outpatient clinics but also in hair salons and even doctors’ offices.
Recognition of their toxicity is increasing.
Neighboring Colombia passed a law on Tuesday that imposes prison terms of two to 10 years on those who import biopolymers to consumers, as well as fines of up to US$70,000.
More and more people suffering from chronic pain are seeking to remove the biopolymer from their bodies.
Last year, US rapper Cardi B admitted to having polymer fillers removed from her buttocks, warning young women against the procedure.
“Little Fat Balls”
The presence of biopolymers triggers the immune system, which constantly fights them, causing fever, swelling and pain.
Over the course of two years, Sanchez was successively diagnosed with arthritis, rheumatism and lupus before arriving at the diagnosis that the chemical was actually the cause of her ailments.
An acquaintance, an employee of the public hospital, referred her to plastic surgeon Juan Carlos Blanco, who has treated about 50 cases over the past five years, 20 of which resulted in surgery, including Sanchez.
Blanco told AFP that when he goes in to remove the filler he finds “little fat balls”.
When he scalds them “they explode and what comes out is oil”.
There are no official figures on the number of people suffering from biopolymer injection in Venezuela, although local media have documented deaths. AFP unsuccessfully requested statistics from the Ministry of Health.
Venezuela is famous for producing beauty queens sculpted by cosmetic doctors and has a deep-rooted culture of plastic surgery.
Sanchez says her “bad decision” to get fillers was to conform to a stereotype, “because I didn’t feel good about my figure.”
“But it was allowed. It wasn’t that I was crazy.”
He could not sit for 20 days after the reconstructive surgery.
While buttock enhancement has been the most popular biopolymer treatment, it has also been used to enhance breasts, calf muscles or even penis enlargement.
Fever, swelling, pain
Surgical removal of the biopolymer has been in place for about five years, but before that the recommendation was not to touch the affected area.
Surgeons agree that it’s impossible to remove 100 percent of the biopolymer, and anyone who offers a different assessment is lying, Blanco says.
Mining operations can cost up to $11,000.
This is what Susanna, 39, will have to pay for her third attempt to remove the toxic filler she injected into her buttocks 12 years ago.
Suzana, who asked that her real name not be used because of the stigma attached to those who have opted for these treatments, lives in a slum in the hills of Caracas.
Getting around is a test.
“I can’t walk very far,” he says. “I need to get my feet in hot water.”
She started suffering pain five years after the injections, after her second pregnancy, and made the “mistake” to undergo surgery in 2017 with a contraindicated technique similar to liposuction, which made things worse and cost $3,000.
“I couldn’t walk anymore,” she recalls, and a doctor performed emergency surgery on her in 2019 — for an additional $5,000.
She has scars on her buttocks above and below, bruised from the operations.
In the upcoming third operation, the specialist “will take out as much as she can”.
The doctor warned Susanna “not to hate her if she leaves me ‘plaked’ in the buttocks,” she said. “I’m not going to hate her. I will thank her very much.”
© 2023 AFP
