A woman from Melbourne has spoken out about the ‘excruciating’ pain she was left in, after an erbium laser resurfacing procedure left her face swollen, burnt and ‘with lasting damage’.
Deborah June, 53, spoke of the treatment she had – which was intended to ‘rejuvenate the skin and smooth out any lines’ – and how it left her ‘very severely burnt and swollen’.
‘There’s lasting damage on my face – I have scarring underneath my eyes and cheeks,’ Ms June told Daily Mail Australia.
A woman from Melbourne has spoken out about the ‘excruciating’ pain she was left in, after an erbium laser resurfacing procedure left her face swollen, burnt and ‘permanently damaged’
Deborah June, 53, spoke of the treatment she had – which was intended to ‘rejuvenate the skin and smooth out any lines’ – and how it left her ‘very severely burnt’ (pictured before)
‘There’s lasting damage on my face – I have scarring underneath my eyes and cheeks,’ Ms June explained (pictured now)
When Ms June walked into the Mornington clinic last year on Easter Sunday with a friend, she said she was reassured to see that things seemed ‘professional’:
‘We believed the woman doing the procedure was a medical practitioner, because she had the right equipment and was wearing a medical jacket, calling us patients,’ the 53-year-old explained.
‘The laser itself was very painful, and I remember a smell like burning flesh while we were there.
‘Straight afterwards, it felt more like sunburn than anything else.
‘By the time we left the clinic and got home and the numbing cream had worn off, it was excruciating,’ Ms June said.
The 53-year-old added that for the first 24 hours, she had to ‘scrub the burnt wounds every two hours to avoid them scabbing up’.
‘By the time we left the clinic and got home and the numbing cream had worn off, it was excruciating,’ Ms June said (her friend she had the treatment with is pictured here)
Ms June isn’t the only woman who was left with a bloodied face, blistering or swelling following an invasive laser treatment (pictured: Niki Richardson)
While she had been told that she would be back at work in a matter of days, Ms June said the swelling and blistered in fact ‘took months to die down’.
‘At times, the pain was so intense I would have to sit on the floor to avoid passing out. It was as though I’d been in a serious fire, it was unbearable,’ she explained.
Ms June said she was ‘reassured this was normal by the practitioner for weeks’:
‘I was covered in dripping blood,’ she said. ‘I was told that I wouldn’t need to wear make up on my face again, but I need to wear more make up now than ever before.’
Niki Richardson, 46, from Victoria, also suffered with severe inflammation three months after having the same procedure carried out (pictured days after the procedure)
Ms June isn’t the only woman who was left with a bloodied face, blistering or swelling following an invasive laser treatment.
Niki Richardson, 46, from Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, also suffered with severe inflammation three months after having the same procedure carried out.
Meanwhile, Ms June said there are ‘no doubt countless more women who have been affected’ by similar treatments.
‘There need to be changes to the legislation,’ she explained – adding that she and others would like a criminal lawyer to take on their case.
‘This needs to be regulated by the government.’
According to Medicine Net , erbium laser resurfacing is designed to remove surface-level and moderately deep lines and wrinkles on the face, hands, neck, or chest (pictured: Niki Richardson before and three months after the procedure)
According to Medicine Net, erbium laser resurfacing is designed to remove surface-level and moderately deep lines and wrinkles on the face, hands, neck, or chest.
The site said that the laser causes few side effects, such as swelling, bruising or redness, so recovery time should be quick.
An erbium laser provides a milder and less invasive treatment option than a carbon dioxide laser.
Ms June said that the clinic she visited have since changed their name and are continuing to carry out treatments under a different one.
Meanwhile, The Australasian Foundation for Plastic Surgery have warned that laser treatments – like any cosmetic treatments – should be performed in an appropriately accredited day surgery, by a qualified practitioner.
The foundation said risks and complications associated with skin rejuvenation could include infection resulting in scarring, dark pigmentation, redness, pain, worsening acne, depression and trouble sleeping and skin sensitivity.