Another day, another victim of improperly administered cosmetic fillers.
This time, a bad shot caused a Washington state woman’s nose to fall off
“It triggered some PTSD when I saw my face burning and melting and falling off,” Krysta Carson, 52, told Kennedy News of the “terrifying ordeal.”
The Seattlelite’s harrowing saga began ten years ago when, like many people nearing middle age, Carson became unhappy with her appearance — lamenting that strangers had mistaken her for her own mother-in-law
Despite having received Botox injections for 20 years by that point, the professional entertainer was still considered much older than desired.
“My husband is 10 years younger than me and since he joined me here [in Seattle], in a period of about two weeks I was wrong three times with his mother,” the woman lamented. “I don’t know if it was my neck or my cheek or what was the difference in our ages, but I had to do something about it.
Carson decided to seek filler treatment in 2015 from an unnamed surgeon. “I felt like I was really safe and in really good hands, so I signed the consent form, which just had some warnings about bruising and swelling and the risk of infection,” she recalls. “I didn’t see anything else that concerned me at all.”
The following year, Carson began her ill-fated cosmetic journey by getting annual injections into her smile lines, the results of which she was initially pleased with.
Everything was going well until October 12, 2020, when she received a shot that would change her life forever.
Carson reportedly scheduled her injection that day so she could look her best at an upcoming wedding concert. However, when the performer returned home later that day, she began experiencing a series of strange symptoms, including a “numbness, tingling” and even slurred speech.
Concerned about the sudden influx of symptoms, which were getting progressively worse, Carson called the surgeon’s office the next morning.
He told her to come right away, after which he admitted she had hit a blood vessel and that her condition was “going to get worse before it got better,” according to Carson.
Despite the alarming news, the doctor said she would probably be fine within six months and gave her an ointment to treat the injection site.
The chop doc’s diagnosis was quickly proven wrong. Carson was reportedly applying the topical treatment in question on October 31, 2020, when suddenly, the bottom of her nostril popped out of her upper lip.
“My whole left nostril just came off and it was hanging there by a tiny piece of flesh,” Carson recalled. “I was in shock and terrified.”
She added, “My whole left nasal passage and the inside of my mouth also looked like this and felt like it was on fire.”
The accompanying photos show Carson’s nose, which is blackened and half-rotten like a medieval skin disease.
As it turned out, the poor filling injection had caused a vascular occlusion, in which the injected fluid cuts off oxygen and skin nutrients. Although generally mild, Carson’s case had progressed to necrosis (tissue death) of the variety seen in severe frostbite.
“I think so [the doctor] he was very clumsy and careless with his injection and because it was such a large amount and a large blood vessel, it caused a lot of damage,” said Washington, who was especially disappointed that her doctor never mentioned the side effects in question.
The consequences were not merely cosmetic. Carson’s mouth was swollen after the injury, making her unable to eat, which caused her to lose 30 pounds in 30 days.
Worried about literally losing her face, she went to see a doctor who specialized in reconstructive surgery, where she received even more disappointing news.
“He took off my bandages and gave me a mirror and told me it’s not going to grow back,” said Carson, who said she then “lost the will to live.”
“I knew I couldn’t work,” she described. “I’ve been working as a model and singer for 30 years and you can’t do much without a full face.”
She added, “I haven’t been able to go back to work full time because I have such horrible breathing and breathing support problems with my missing nostril and narrowed nasal passage.”
Unable to afford reconstructive surgery, Carson was reduced to wearing a prosthetic nostril fitted with a nasal stent to help her breathe better.
While she’s still ‘screwed up and scarred’, Carson claims the fake nose – which she’s been wearing for two years now – has allowed her to ‘live a normal life’.
“I don’t know how I would have survived all of this without the prosthetic,” gushes the patient, who is saving up for a new synthetic shnoz that will better fit her face.
In light of the ordeal, Carson stopped all Botox and filler procedures three years ago and now embraces the natural aging process.
She has also documented her harrowing health journey on TikTok — where it goes from @disfiguredbeauty — in hopes of preventing others from making the same mistake she did.
“It’s very important to me that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” he said. “If I’ve been using it for years thinking it’s completely safe, there could be people who think the same.”
