Millions of Americans in our increasingly vain culture take the plunge and have cosmetic surgery each year, a figure that has only been increasing as more and more people embrace the notion of changing their bodies — including children.

Some of these decisions are made for legitimate medical reasons, of course, but far more are done purely for personal reasons, Dr. Manny Alverez, M.D., writing in Lifezette, noted.

But in order to get the perfect body, some surgeons prefer to perform fat transfer, which consists of taking fat from one part of the body and transferring it to another area via injection. Studies are finding that these injections come with several risks — and not all of them are fully explained to patients before their cosmetic surgery. So it’s become vital for anyone who is considering it to fully research the procedures (and risks) before saying ‘yes’ to such procedures.

As Alvarez noted further:

In one man’s case, the cosmetic surgery did not go as he had planned and, in fact, turned unexpectedly deadly. According to a recent report in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, a 30-year-old Swedish man went in for a two-part surgery to enhance his penis.

During the procedure, the doctors were supposed to remove fat from one area of the man’s body and transfer it for penis enlargement. Unfortunately, the surgery took a turn for the worse. Once the doctors injected the fat, this relatively healthy man went into cardiac arrest and died one hour later.

Medical researchers discovered upon further review that the man suffered a pulmonary fat embolism — that is, a fat embolism that traveled to his lungs, where it ruptured a blood vessel. And while this deadly side effect certainly was not intended, an otherwise healthy man had his life dramatically shortened via an elective procedure based primarily on vanity.

Fat embolisms can certainly occur in other circumstances, including severe trauma. But researchers are finding they are a particularly high risk from cosmetic surgeries, which involve injections of fat to enhance certain body parts.

For instance, said Alvarez, Brazilian butt lifts have really grown in popularity in recent years. However, several of those have ended with fat embolisms, which researchers say can actually occur quite easily. If an injection happens to get into a blood vessel, that can turn an elective surgery into a life-ending experience quickly.

“If this complication occurs, the patient may experience an onset of symptoms quite suddenly,” Alvarez wrote. “These include irregular heartbeat, trouble breathing, and fever.”

In 2011, a pair of physicians writing in New England Journal of Medicine recounted a case where a 32-year-old man presented in clinic with loss of vision in his left eye — after having
“an autologous fat injection” in his forehead a week earlier to fix “frown lines.”

According to the physicians, the patient reported feeling a sudden, severe periocular pain and had complete vision loss in his left eye while he was receiving the injection.

“Follow-up photography and fluorescein angiography confirmed multiple retinal hemorrhages, occlusions of several retinal arterioles with visible fat emboli, and complete lack of perfusion of the tissue bed in hypofluorescent areas,” they wrote.

In other words, it wasn’t likely the man would ever get his vision back.

But losing your life over a cosmetic ‘fix’ is even worse.

“While these cases are worst-case situations,” Alvarez noted, “cosmetic surgeries in which the surgeon performs a fat injection do have multiple risks. According to one plastic surgery site, fat transfer for Brazilian butt lifts can result in excessive loss of blood, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, infection, necrosis (death of fat tissue), and other serious risks.”

And, he added, besides the risks some patients wind up being dissatisfied with the surgery. (Related: Cosmetic surgery patients regret not learning more before undergoing procedures, study suggests.)

As for male enhancement surgery, says Mayo Clinton urologist Tobia Kohler, “It’s a completely useless procedure that never works and disfigures men, and could kill you.”

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources include:

Lifezette.com

NEJM.org

NaturalNews.com