Mum left with pubic hair growing on face after skin graft
A woman was left mortified when emergency treatment she had as a child to treat a brutal dog bite left her with pubic hair on her face.
A woman was left with pubic hair growing on her face after a skin graft to treat a savage dog bite.
Crystal Coombs, from the US, had a chunk of her cheek torn off by a pit bull when she was nine years old, The Sun reported.
Doctors at the time were forced to perform a skin graft operation to heal the wound – sourcing the graft from her groin.
But years later the patch started to sprout hairs, forcing Crystal to pluck each one as they appeared.
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Appearing on the latest episode of E!’s Botched, she said since becoming a mum she’s more self-conscious than ever.
In a trailer, she tells Dr Terry Dubrow and Dr Paul Nassif: “When I was nine years old, my grandfather was holding a dog.
“I was actually pretty terrified of the pit bull. All I remember is (it went) black.”
After going to hospital, doctors in the emergency room advised she wait for a plastic surgeon to fix her face.
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But while the graft helped heal the wound, years later it’s left Crystal with an embarrassing side effect that she fears will cause her kids to be teased.
“The surgeon suggested the skin graft, take it from the groin. They did the surgery and then the hair started growing” Crystal explained.
Dr Nassif then asked the mum: “So you’re getting pubic hair on your face?”
Crystal replied: “Literal pubic hair.”
She went on to say she was never warned of the potential side effect and asked the doctors for their help.
“At first it didn’t affect me,” she added.
“Since having my daughter, I started to get really conscious of it.
“I’m worried about the kids she’ll go to school with, I don’t want her to be teased.”
In the episode, Crystal asks the doctors to do what they can to minimise her graft.
They explained it is a risky procedure, one that is “actually deceptively complicated”.
Dr Dubrow explained: “That skin graft is very close to critical anatomical structures like the nose, the cheeks and the eye.
“If altered, even a little bit, it can change the entire shape of the face and look very deformed.”
Despite the task they faced, the experts managed to come up with a solution.
The pair told Crystal they would have to insert a space filler to stretch the skin on her cheek in order to remove the original graft and close the gap.
By using skin from her face, they could get around the issue of unwanted body hair sprouting.
For a month Crystal had to live with the large implant under her skin while having regular saline injections to help the skin stretch.
The operation was a success and Crystal was left with nothing more than a thin scar on her cheek.
“Before my surgery, I had a skin graft on my face with pubic hair growing out of it,” she said.
“After having my daughter I was nervous about how other kids would treat her because of how I looked.
“But, thanks to Dr Nassif, the skin graft is completely gone.
“So now my face is finally smooth, symmetrical and pubic hair free.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission