These days, the topic of cosmetic procedures has taken on greater proportions in our society than I’m sure most people ever imagined. Whether people praise them or talk about their regrets, heartbreaks, and comebacks, the conversation is clearly going nowhere.
Then I asked members of BuzzFeed Community, “If you’ve ever had a cosmetic procedure and regretted it, what was your experience like and how did it go wrong?” Here’s what they had to say:
Note: Not all submissions are from the BuzzFeed Community, some came from this Reddit Thread.
1.“When I was seven, I crashed my bike and broke my nose, but it didn’t reset properly. Between that and genetics, I had a prominent nose with a bump. All through high school, my mom would say, ‘You know, we would be happy to pay for your nose to be fixed’, which affected me, I don’t think I would have minded otherwise. At age 20, I gave in and got one.
“At first, I was happy. I had a little upturned nose. But then I found out that they had narrowed my nasal passages and I had a hole in my septum. So basically, it’s like a nostril. With allergies or when I’m sick, it’s a incredible pain. Now in my late 30s, I wish I could have hugged my nose.
-Anonymous
Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images
two.“I had an upper blepharoplasty. The doctor cut away a lot of skin on my right upper eyelid, which made it very asymmetrical. I also can’t completely close my other eye. The overall end result also didn’t match the results I wanted (like the shape and aesthetics). The procedure took a long time and I ended up with a scar. It’s been five years since then and it’s not normal to have visible scars.”
“It also removed a lot of fat, which made my eyes look hollower. I used to have a healthy smile with just the right amount of fat, but now it makes me look older than my age. and I’m scared to do a review as I might end up with worse results. I’m also scared that I won’t be able to close both eyes if I do this.
3.“When cool sculpting was in its early stages, I signed up for a clinical trial to try it out. They only did this on one side of my body and did some other treatment (I mean some kind of UV treatment) on the other side so they could compare the results and confirm that the cool sculpting worked. The consent form I signed said they would do the cool carving on the opposite side at the end of the test if the UV treatment didn’t work, so I figured. The risk was low and I agreed to treat my love handles.”
“At the end of the test, my cool sculpted side had significantly less fat than the other side (after two or three treatments), which means it worked! The UV side had no results. The office that did it basically refused to treat my UV side even though they said they would on the consent form. After a lot of back and forth, they finally agreed to do a cool sculpting treatment on the UV side, but to this day, I’m still unequal since they did it for my UV side. minus two treatments on the first side So I’m left with a love handle on one side of my body. I also later discovered that when you gain more fat, it just goes somewhere else instead of where the fat cells went. destroyed during cool sculpting. Now I have fat in weird places that I never had to worry about before. Ultimately, it wasn’t worth it, and whenever my friends mentioned wanting to do cool sculpting, I told them my story. like a cautionary tale!”
-Anonymous
Zoran Zeremski/Getty Images
4.“They give a list of all the things that could go wrong, and after a full facelift, I had them all done. One ear was stretched and sewn onto my neck; it had to be cut off later. My eyelids wrinkled, I had a big bruise on my scalp, but the worst part is that my smile has disappeared. I look terrible when I try to smile for twelve years.
-Anonymous
5.“I got Aqua Lipo, which is supposed to be gentler than traditional liposuction. I had it done on my stomach, arm area, thighs, and back. That was about 10 years ago, and my arms still have permanent nerve problems. Any thing touches the area that was worked on and it feels raw and soft, almost a decade later I was desperate for a quick fix because I was getting married, but I should have done my research.
6.“I had top surgery because I’m female to male. I was on the waiting list for a good surgeon, but it was a two-year wait and the gender dysphoria was getting worse, so I looked for another surgeon with a shorter wait time. That was a mistake. I was almost eligible for keyhole incisions (small incisions around the nipple) instead of a double incision (large scars in the center of the chest, below the pectoral ridge), and I really didn’t want to. giant scars.
“For me to make the incisions and remove the extra skin, my surgeon suggested pectoral implants. Big mistake number two. He made very different incisions than the ones we discussed, so I still ended up with huge scars and now implants, which often hurt, look horrible, AND nor does it help with the loose skin. I have the worst of all the options. Plus, I need the implants removed now by better surgeons, causing, you guessed it, more scarring seeking legal action for medical assault, which is not the case. that my post-op recovery needed. Find a good surgeon, especially if you are seeking gender-affirming care.
-Anonymous
7.“I had lip fillers once, just a very small amount. I went to a plastic surgeon, got the injection, and that night my lip tripled in size due to swelling. I called the office first thing in the morning. They called me and told me that I had herpes, and that was the problem. Except… I don’t have herpes.
“I ended up going to my doctor because I developed bruising, who sent me to a dermatologist who told me I had an occlusion, and I was very lucky I didn’t lose my lip. It took me nine laser treatments to remove it and leave me with a permanent scar. When I called the office to let them know and requested my money back, they would only do so if I signed an agreement that I would not attack the son of a bitch on social media.
Fenton Roman/Getty Images
8.“I had a breast augmentation in 1982, then had the implants removed in 1994. That’s when things went wrong. I lost most of my breast tissue and the nipple on my right breast. I paid £5,000 for breast reconstruction and plastic surgery in 2021, and I absolutely hate the way my breasts look now. They’re just two big bags of saggy tissue on my chest that don’t even look like breasts anymore.”
“My right breast still has no nipple and most of the areola is lost. I regret the day I tampered with my body. I have spent almost thirty years regretting my previous choices. I have spent a total of almost £20,000 on my breasts, just to be embarrassed to undress in front of someone.”
-Anonymous
9.“My double jaw surgery has positives and negatives. It helped me with facial balance (I used to have a very short face), but it totally decimated my jawline. I had a really great L-shaped jawline before and the way I they separated my jaw butt and reattaching it made my chin weak and zigzag. I asked my jaw surgeon about this and he tried to convince me to get jaw implants, which seems unbelievable to me. to try to get it back.”
10.“I had a fat transfer from my thighs to fill in the empty areas under my eyes. Immediately after the procedure, there was almost no difference and after a week it looked the same as before. retain the fat well, but he still recommended over $4,000 down the drain.”
And finally, this person shared how important it is to do all from your search:
11.“After three children and two surgeries in less than four months (gallbladder and appendix removal), I had to have another surgery to repair a huge hernia. with ‘something to make me feel better’. I never liked breasts and was very ambivalent about mine, but I thought they might perk up. As soon as I got out of surgery, I hated them. They felt strange, intrusive, and too big. but there was not a single day that I did not detest the sentiment of them, and they were constantly on my mind in a bad way.”
“Within a year, my health continued to deteriorate and my white blood cell count plummeted. Seven years later, I was barely functioning: extreme fatigue, major brain fog and cognitive problems, being constantly sick, rashes, gastritis, headaches, etc. . Come to find out, I have SLE (lupus) and Sjögren’s syndrome (both autoimmune diseases. The implants definitely did not cause this, as the blood tests before the implants already indicated something was wrong and lupus runs in my family, but I have it) . 100% positive, they caused additional problems and an increased immune response. I consulted several doctors before opting to remove the implants, and all seven said the same thing: ‘Although research has not proven that there is a correlation, it stands to reason. For some people, especially those with autoimmune diseases, foreign entities like implants can trigger an additional immune response. I can’t express how much better I felt immediately! My quality of life improved drastically and the deadly fatigue instantly subsided. I really regret having the implants and wish I had known more about the possible problems. It’s a shame there isn’t more information about this because since removing them I’ve heard case after case of similar problems. I wish I had received more information to make a better decision and now have to live with them. the results, but I absolutely do not regret removing them. I strongly recommend that anyone receiving any type of major implant do their research beforehand and definitely think twice if they have a family history or any indication of an autoimmune disease, as the trauma of the surgery alone can often trigger flare-ups or onsets. .”
-Anonymous
Pridannikov/Getty Images
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Did any of these things resonate with you? If you’ve had cosmetic surgery and regretted it, feel free to share your story in the comments.
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