A MUM feared she'd contracted HIV when giant crusty, boils oozing pus and blood erupted across her face after having £60 anti-wrinkle jabs.
Kat Ramsey has been getting "confidence-boosting" injections for the past four years to make her look younger and relieve tension headaches.
But around a week after her at-home appointment in March, the 41-year-old said she was unable to get out of bed and rang 111 who suspected she had contracted sepsis.
Large boils erupted around Kat's eyes, forehead and frown lines the following day, which she claims are "the exact places" the injections had been administered.
Kat admits four oozing marble-sized boils on her face lowered her confidence so much she refused to leave home, fearing people would stare at her.
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After a four-week course of antibiotics and a dermatologist consultation, Kat said she was told they were a result of "cross-contamination".
Terrified, Kat urgently booked an HIV test that came back negative, but one stubborn boil still remains and she fears the scars from the others will never fade.
The mum-of-two, who says she's never experienced issues with the jabs before, is keen to encourage people to thoroughly research their practitioners before going under the needle.
'Getting bigger and bigger'
Kat, from Margate, Kent, said: "A week or so after the injections, I got really ill.
"I couldn't walk or get out of bed so I contacted 111 and managed to get antibiotics that day.
"The day after big boils on my face started appearing, they thought it could be sepsis.
"They were getting bigger and bigger to the point where I wouldn't leave the house. People were staring at me in the street and in the shops so I didn't want to leave.
"I realised the boils were in the exact same place where I'd got the injections."
Kat suspected the beautician had used a used a dirty needle to administer the injections.
"I didn't even see her open a fresh needle so it could've been a used one," she said.
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"I went for a HIV screening just in case but it was luckily negative because I was scared at one point it could be that."
The mum finally got answers for her alarming skin reaction after visiting a dermatologist.
"I went to a dermatologist and they said it was a case of cross contamination and that she had put needles used for different people in the same bottle," she said.
'Scarred for life'
Though most of Kat's boils faded, one has lingered on her face for months after the treatment, leaving the mum fearing she would be permanently scarred.
"I've still got one boil now which still hasn't popped. I'm still walking around with plasters on my face three months later," she said.
"I will probably never be able to have injections in those places again now because of the scar tissue.
"It will leave me scarred for life."
Devastated Kat says she trusted the practitioner as a friend recommended her, but he's now urging beauty lovers to do their own research before booking facial treatment appointments.
Kat said: "I've been getting anti-wrinkle injections for about four years and never had any problems, it's always been successful.
"They helped with my tension headaches and it smooths out my wrinkles and frown line, so it's partly vanity and partly for health benefits. They gave me more confidence.
"I feel lucky it wasn't worse but it has knocked my confidence a lot. People were staring at me because I had four massive boils on my face.
"I would tell other people to research the practitioner and to check the product because people are cutting corners.
"I will definitely only go to a doctor, dentist or nurse from now on because having gone through this you just don't know what's in the products and it's so unregulated."
