Dangers after fat-reducing essence injections

Hanoi Thu Anh, 16 years old, spent 10 million to go to a spa to get fat-reducing injections. A few days later, her arms and thighs were festering, leaking fluid, and in pain, she had to be hospitalized.

Thu Anh is 1.6 m tall and weighs 75 kg. Her friends' standard of "slim and fair skin is the standard" has made the young woman always feel self-conscious about her chubby appearance. By chance, she saw a spa advertisement online and learned about the method of injecting fat-reducing essence, "no surgery, no recovery needed", the cost is 1/10 of liposuction. The staff at this facility advised that only one injection is needed to reduce from 5 to 10 kg.

"This is a dream number, I tried to fast and exercise but couldn't get it," Thu Anh said, adding that the spa staff said they would inject the essence directly into the body areas that need to be reduced, including the thighs, buttocks, abdomen, biceps and calves. "With just one injection, this essence will affect the fat layer to destroy the structure and slowly liquefy the fat layer. The liquefied fat will be eliminated through the process of sweating and urination," the female student quoted the staff's advertisement here.

Several other spas promised to remove all excess fat, with treatments starting at just three million VND. Afraid of complications, she chose a 10-session treatment for 10 million VND, with a "money-back guarantee if ineffective" guarantee. After one session, she continued to experience pain and redness at the injection site, which the staff explained was just a "normal reaction, and taking antibiotics would cure it."

A few days later, her upper arms and thighs were leaking fluid, itching, and smelling bad, making it impossible for her to lie on her side or walk. She went to the hospital for a check-up and was diagnosed with an abscess and infection, which required immediate incision and cleaning to avoid scarring. "In short, the money was lost, the disease was present, and her weight remained unchanged," she recounted on May 30.

To reduce fat, spa staff inject the essence directly into the areas that need to be reduced such as thighs, abdomen, and biceps, but do not disclose the ingredients. Photo: According to Medi life — To reduce fat, spa staff inject the essence directly into the areas that need to be reduced such as thighs, abdomen, and biceps, but do not disclose the ingredients. Photo: *Medi life*

Also hiding from her parents to go to the spa to inject slimming essence, the 17-year-old female student panicked when the intervention areas were swollen, festering with many abscesses in the jaw, biceps, and thighs. At the Central Dermatology Hospital, the doctor had to incise, puncture, and drain the pus, flush and clean, combined with antibiotics. However, the patient came to the clinic late, the abscesses in the biceps and calves had all burst, leaving behind scars like a checkerboard, unable to be repaired.

In another case, a 40-year-old woman came to Duc Giang General Hospital for examination with many unusual lumps appearing on her cheeks, chin, arms, and abdomen. Three months ago, she listened to an acquaintance and went to a spa to get fat-reducing essence injections, "but she did not know what substance was injected into her body."

After the examination, Dr. Pham Duy Linh, Department of Plastic Surgery, incised the abscesses and cleaned the inflammation, prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs daily. A week later, the abscesses stopped draining and the fibroids had shrunk.

Image of red, swollen, oozing wound after fat-loss injection. Photo: Provided by doctor — Image of red, swollen, oozing wound after fat-loss injection. Photo: *Provided by doctor*

Recently, hospitals have continuously received many cases of complications, abscesses, and infections after injections of slimming essences at spas and small cosmetic facilities. Most patients come to the hospital late due to fear, apprehension, and the desire to hide their cosmetic intervention, making treatment difficult.

The method of injecting essence to lose weight is very popular on social platforms. Spas or beauty facilities film the process before and after injecting essence to create trust, along with many commitments such as "just one treatment can transform" or "no weight loss, no money", "super liposuction, cure diseases". Injecting essence attracts many people's interest because it requires surgery, just needs to be injected directly into the area that needs fat loss, no need for rest, diet, low cost.

Vietnam has about 100 types of weight loss drugs circulating on the market, including two forms: oral and injectable. Injectable drugs include Phosphatidylcholine (PCC), dissolved by sodium deoxycholate (DC) - a bile salt, under the trade names such as Lipostabil, Dermaheal LL or Liponsaure..

"But no matter what form it takes, it still falls into three main categories: drugs that fill the digestive tract, drugs that metabolize fat in the body, and drugs that cause anorexia," said Dr. Linh.

Normally, when Lipostabil is injected into fat tissue, it will gradually destroy fat cells, turning fat cells into emulsion. However, after a while, Lipostabil also destroys the cell membranes of blood vessels and nerves in the affected area of the drug. Some other risks include local lipomas, cellulitis, permanent scars, pain, even skin necrosis, and loss of aesthetics.

On April 7, 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and then the Ministry of Health of many countries such as France, UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Australia issued a warning and banned the use of Lipostabil for the purpose of fat dissolving. The FDA also emphasized that all acts of advertising, buying, selling, and circulating Lipostabil in the US are considered against US law.

Currently, the two popular fat-reducing injections at spas are Phosphatidylcholine and Deoxycholate. In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has not yet allowed fat-dissolving injections to reduce fat.

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Hoang Manh Ninh, Head of the Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Post Office Hospital, affirmed that there is no product or essence medicine licensed by the Ministry of Health to be injected into the body to reduce weight. Many facilities swap concepts, using products or essences that are allowed to be injected on the skin surface to inject into fat tissue, with the purpose of blinding users, not causing danger but making profit. In case of use, if weight is not lost, the spa staff will say it is due to eating and not abstaining, so compensation cannot be sought. Many places hire models and actors to inject essences, creating trust for customers.

A liposuction session is only allowed to suck 1/10 of the body weight. According to doctors, injecting essences such as enzymes and vitamins into the body and promising to suck 5-10 kg is not correct. People who inject fat-reducing substances are at risk of developing necrotic abscesses on the skin surface at the injection site. Many cases of sclerosis and anaphylactic shock. Even after the complications are treated, patients are at risk of unpredictable long-term health problems.

"Sometimes, customers don't know the brand of the substance being injected, the dosage, or the side effects," said Mr. Ninh.

Doctor Ninh and his team are intervening to treat the patient's injury. Photo: Provided by the doctor — Doctor Ninh and his team are intervening to treat the patient's injury. Photo: *Provided by the doctor*

According to Dr. Linh, there are three possible causes of complications after fat-dissolving injections, including fat-dissolving injections of unknown origin, incorrect injection techniques, and the person performing the injection not ensuring sterility.

For regional fat-dissolving injection techniques, if the injection is too shallow on the skin surface, the drug can cause skin ulcers at the injection site. If the injection is too deep, the consequences will not only cause necrosis at the injection site but also spread to other areas of the body.

The safest way to lose weight is to combine exercise with nutrition. However, obesity has many causes such as taking medication, hormones, family history. Therefore, to lose weight, patients need to understand their body before applying treatment methods.

You should clearly understand the advantages and disadvantages of the weight loss method you choose to avoid "losing money and getting sick". Absolutely do not believe in drugs and foods that help you lose weight quickly, which will reduce your body's metabolism, leading to malnutrition, digestive disorders, insomnia, menstrual disorders, fatigue, exhaustion, and even endanger your life.

Minh An

*Character names have been changed

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