ALBAWABA - Getting surgery is scary, but feeling like you have to go through another one just to fix something you caused yourself is worse.
Maria Sanchez, a 50-year-old woman who lives in Caracas, was seen carrying two drainage bags slung to her waist, after undergoing her second surgery. Ten years after receiving biopolymer injections, she is now grappling with the consequences of her decision.
The scars running across her lower back remind her of her first operation eight months ago to remove 90% of the 125 milliliters of biopolymers that were injected into her back in 2006.
"I am disfigured," she tells AFP. "But I have to endure."
Unencapsulated biopolymers are injected and expanded inside the body unlike prostheses, which were banned in Venezuela back in 2012 after they had been widely used for years in beauty salons and even medical clinics.
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In the early 2000s, biopolymer injections appeared to be a revolutionary process that avoided surgery for its users. Unfortunately, Biopolymers disables the immune system exposing the person to fever, swelling, and pain.
There are no official figures on the number of people who have faced complications related to biopolymers, and AFP has tried in vain to obtain statistics from the Ministry of Health. As for the local media, it reported one death related to the injection of biopolymers.
"What comes out of the body is oil." says surgeon Juan Carlos Blanco, who seeks to repair the damage caused by the decomposition of biopolymers. Since 2018, he has treated about fifty cases, 20 of which had to undergo surgeries, similar to what happened with Maria Sanchez.
(Photo by Magda Gibelli / AFP)
Maria Sanchez suffered for months. She was diagnosed with everything from arthritis and rheumatism to lupus before doctors concluded biopolymers were the underlying cause of her health problems. "It never occurred to me that what I was suffering from was the result of having this substance injected into my buttocks," she says.
The cost of extracting these fluids may reach $11000, as that is the time price another woman who went through something similar to Maria had to pay.
