Popular beauty treatment making beauty lovers look ‘reptilian’: Doctors warn of dangerous side effects

Doctors are cracking down on this anti-bag beauty trend.

Experts say a risky treatment against unsightly eye bags can cause complications ranging from necrosis to permanent vision loss.

“Dangers of mesotherapy under the eyes [the therapy] go beyond minor side effects, especially when people go to inexperienced technicians or do it at home,” New York-based dermatologist Dr. Viktoryia Kazlouskaya told the Daily Mail.

Also known as biorejuvenation, mesotherapy involves injecting a cocktail of vitamins, enzymes, hormones and plant extracts to tighten the skin and remove excess fat from various problem areas, including under the eyes, according to Healthline.

This sac destruction procedure was originally developed by French physician Michel Pistor in 1952 as an antidote for blood vessel and immune system problems.

However, this so-called injectable fountain of youth has become a popular cosmetic trend in the US and elsewhere with TikTok beauty fans posting viral videos of their under-eye mesotherapy results.

There has also been speculation that celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston – who notably went viral in 2023 for getting a salmon sperm facial – have also received these injections in parts of her body.

As many of these videos show, mesotherapy initially causes blister-like itchiness around their eyes before the skin settles down. Trolls have compared these skin bumps to reptilian skin or a “bad chicharon”.

Unfortunately, some of the other side effects are apparently not so temporary, in contrast to its online reputation as a painless cure with a short recovery time.

“Patients may experience long-term bruising, severe allergic reactions, skin necrosis due to product placement in blood vessels, or even permanent eye damage,” warned Dr. Kazlouskaya.

There is also the risk of infection and granulomas, small masses of blood cells and tissue that grow when the immune system reacts to a foreign substance.

Mesotherapy is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although some of the ingredients appear to be, which means patients may not know what’s in each dose – just like with the market-filling industry. black, the Daily Mail reported.

Companies often carry their own unique brands of mesotherapy liquids online, with costs ranging from $45 to $349.

Some have even made their own mesotherapy concoctions and injected themselves, as evidenced by the abundance of TikTok tutorials.

Fortunately, there is no cure for eye bags, which are caused by a variety of factors, ranging from natural aging to hormonal changes and smoking, according to the Mayo Clinic.

However, Harvard-trained, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Neera Nathan claims that people can reduce the variety of fluid accumulation by applying topical caffeine-containing eye cream.

This constricts the blood vessels, reducing swelling “within minutes,” she said.

She also recommends an Arnica gel to help drain excess fluid from around the eyes and an antihistamine to relieve fluid retention.

If other methods fail, patients can also undergo a lower eyelid blepharoplasty, a cosmetic procedure in which the surgeon removes and/or repositions fat under the eye.