Pigmentation stripped from woman’s face after beauty treatment
A Melbourne woman was forced to quit her job and avoid sunlight after a beauty treatment went horribly wrong. Warning: Graphic content.
A woman claims a failed laser hair removal treatment left her scarred and with severe facial discolouration.
Lillian Paul was forced to quit her job for almost two months and avoid sunlight for nearly a year after visiting a beauty salon in Melbourne where the alleged botched beauty job occurred.
Instead of walking out with smooth skin, she told A Current Affair the treatment stripped the pigmentation from her face, leaving a distinct discolouration that required months of painful treatment.
“To help in the healing I had to peel my skin back, and that was very painful,” Ms Paul told the program.
“It was thick, burnt skin being ripped off my face. I had to do it twice a week.”
The treatment, which Ms Paul had never tried before until a year ago, had forced her away from her day job and out of the sunlight due to the severity of the damage.
When she visited her local hospital because of “excruciating” pain after the treatment, she was met by horrified medics.
Ms Paul said staff told it would take months, if not years, for her skin to recover.
The laser clinic she visited has since compensated her financially, but denied any liability, however Ms Paul remains both physically and emotionally scarred from the experience.
She said the botched treatment had dented her confidence, and she relied on make-up to cover up the damage.
Cosmetic surgeon Dr Joseph Ajaka told A Current Affair that in NSW and Victoria, there was no regulation on who could perform laser surgeries — whereas in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, clinicians are required to do a laser safety course before performing treatments.
Dr Ajaka said the industry needed a complete overhaul.
“In a lot of cases, lasers are more dangerous than injectables,” he said. “Injectables often can be reversible, but laser often isn’t.”