Cowboy surgery: Louise Siu's simple procedure went horribly wrongLouise Siu has made her career as an actuary – a discipline that assesses financial risk. So when the 47-year-old decided to have cosmetic laser treatment in 2007, she made sure she did some careful research.
And it confirmed that the procedure – to get rid of thread veins around her nose – should be simple and safe.
She chose a London clinic that appeared to be reputable and her first treatment with the Yag laser was uneventful, leaving Louise pleased with the results. But her next appointment in January 2008 was not so straightforward.
A different nurse arrived to carry out the treatment and Louise noticed there were a far greater number of laser ‘shots’ to her nose.
‘It felt like upwards of three times more than I’d had during the previous appointment,’ she says.
‘I think back to it now and I wonder why I didn’t tell her to stop. But it all happened very quickly and I trusted the clinic.
‘When I got home that evening, it felt as if my face was on fire. I slept really badly that night and I had this hot, burning sensation around my nose.’ Louise realised that something was terribly wrong.
She went to work next day, but by lunchtime large blisters had begun to appear and she quickly returned to the clinic. She was told the injuries were superficial.
But over the following weeks, the blisters turned into unsightly scabs and she had to take time off work.
When the scabs came off, there were deep scars all around her nostrils. ‘I remember looking in the mirror and realising I had been scarred,’ she says. ‘I just started crying.
‘I cried for days – I just couldn’t believe this had happened to me.’