Juvederm Nightmare

Hi Dr Rivkin.
I hope you can tell me what you think of my problem. This has really got me down. Back in the fall I had a couple of skin cancers removed from my face by a local dermatologist. The one on my cheek required an incision. I was left with a scar over a half inch long. In November I went in to get checked and the doctor suggested Juvederm for the incision. He also said he would inject it under my eyes. To tell the truth, I didn't know why because I'd never noticed wrinkles there.
I knew nothing at all about Juvederm and feel I was talked into this treatment. This dermatologist even told me that if I was unhappy with what he did, I wouldn't have to pay. So I agreed to it. Biggest mistake of my life.
He ended up putting it under my eyes and in the crease on both cheeks (that incision was very near the crease on one side). The procedure was very painful. He pushed and pushed the gell around and I can out of the office very swollen. Of course I thought this was normal and didn't say anything.
By the next day, I had terrible purple bruises under my eyes and on my cheek near the incision. I was also in alot of pain. I have photos if you'd like to see them. The bruises lasted for over a week.
It's been months and I am left with these puffy areas under my eyes. They look terrible.
When I went to the doctor several weeks after the procedure, I told him how unhappy I was, I showed him pics of my bruises, and I told him that I wanted my money back. He insinuated that I was kuckoo by asking if I was going through a tramatic event in my life. He obviously was trying to get out of giving me my money back.
He gave me some kind of medicine for inflammation and told me to come back in two weeks. I ended up cancelling the appointment because I figured it would be a waste of my time. He'll never give my money back.
Have you heard of any experiences like this? Do I have any recourse? Is there anything that I can do to get rid of this swelling?

Thanks so much for any reply.

Dawn

hi dawn,
it sounds like you had a bad experience - that sucks.
the good news is that you can certainly get rid of the puffiness very quickly.
you should go to someone who knows what they are doing and have them inject an enzyme called hyaluronidase into the puffy area. the enzyme will remove the juvederm and will make the puffiness disappear overnight. tell the doctor to put just a little bit in - that way only part of the juvederm gets dissolved and perhaps you will keep the positive effects but get rid of the swelling.
i assume he put the juvederm in there because you have dark circles under the eyes.
unfortunately, bruising and swelling for this kind of procedure are fairly common. some people get none and some get lots - its random.
its pretty tough to get your money back in this kind of situation if the doc is unwilling to engage in a discussion. i would say that you can usually negotiate free treatments, but it doesn't sound like the type of practice that you'd want to go back to.
well, the good thing is that your situation is very fixable.
hope that helps,