"Everyone made it out to be so easy, but my face felt like it was on fire and there was a horrible smell of burning skin," says Nikita Morgan, as she describes her eyelid surgery.
asserted
she → make → surgery
She decided to get a blepharoplasty, or a "bleph", removing skin from just above the eyes - after seeing videos about it on social media.
asserted
She → decide → media
Even though she was given a local anaesthetic, Nikita felt extreme pain.
asserted
Nikita → give → pain
Oculoplastic surgeons - doctors specialising in surgery around the eyes - say a concerning number of patients are reporting problems from cheap bleph surgery, typically carried out abroad.
asserted
number → specialise → surgery
They have told the BBC the demand for this procedure, which normally costs thousands of pounds in the UK, has increased as part of a wider aesthetic trend to tighten, smooth and lift the face.
asserted
which → tell → face
Surgeons say complications have been linked to clinics across mainland Europe, Africa and Asia, and, when they occur, the lack of aftercare puts a burden on the NHS.
asserted
lack → say → NHS
As well as Nikita, we have spoken to dozens of people who have experienced problems - including one woman who had to tape her eyes shut to sleep because too much eyelid skin had been removed, while another feared she was losing her sight.
asserted
she → speak → sight
UK surgeons have also told us they have seen patients unable to close their eyes properly after treatment abroad.
asserted
they → tell → treatment
Nikita, from Dublin, wanted to make her eyes more defined, but could not afford upper eyelid surgery in Ireland that she was told would cost more than €4,000 (£3,400).
uncertain
she → want → 4,000
Then the 31-year-old discovered on TikTok that she could get a bleph with Dutch company, Faceland for €750 (£650).
uncertain
she → discover → 750
She described its clinic in Düsseldorf as "like a conveyor belt, just one in, one out constantly".
asserted
She → describe → belt
The company says it has performed more than 2,950 bleph procedures on UK patients at its clinics in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland since October 2024.
asserted
it → say → October
It says it offers "safe and quality" treatments and told us "less than 1% of procedures have led to a complaint", although this does not include everyone who needed revision surgery.
asserted
who → say → surgery
The majority of patients who spoke to the BBC about problems with their blephs had been to the company's clinics - but we do not know how many complications in total have occurred at Faceland.
asserted
complications → speak → Faceland
Nikita, who went for her bleph in November 2025, says she did not realise how invasive the procedure would be, believing it to be like "getting your lips or Botox done", she says.
asserted
she → go → November
She was injected with local anaesthetic, but when the doctor began cutting delicate eyelid skin, she felt pain she had never experienced before.
asserted
she → inject → pain
"I went into shell shock, it was horrible," Nikita says.
asserted
Nikita → go → shock
"When she was stitching me I could feel the needle going through my skin."
uncertain
needle → stitch → skin
Faceland says all patients have consultations and sign consent forms before procedures, to ensure they are "well informed and well prepared".
asserted
they → say → procedures
It added that Nikita's doctor had said Nikita was "very anxious and uncertain" during her procedure "which can influence the perception of pain".
asserted
which → add → pain
Within hours, a "traumatised" Nikita was boarding a plane home.
asserted
Nikita → traumatise → plane
Flying on the same day of surgery is not advised by medical experts as well as Faceland, but she saw lots of people doing it on social media.
asserted
lots → fly → media
"I was struggling to see," says Nikita, "if I looked up, my stitches would bleed so it was like I was crying blood.
asserted
I → struggle → blood
She really regrets flying on the same day as her surgery and advises others not to.
asserted
She → regret → others
The rise of the bleph
In the past three years, videos about blephs posted by UK social media accounts on four leading platforms were viewed nearly 150 million times, BBC analysis has found.
asserted
analysis → post → platforms
Many people report positive results in their posts, and a lot have been treated at Faceland.
asserted
lot → report → Faceland
One woman told us her droopy eyelids had been restricting her vision and causing her headaches.
asserted
eyelids → tell → headaches
She was not eligible for NHS treatment and could not afford to go private in the UK, but now she says, after going to Faceland, her issues have been resolved.
uncertain
issues → afford → Faceland
The company's website claims it is changing the market by focusing on "affordable, accessible and high quality care".
uncertain
it → claim → care
Treatments are carried out by accredited medical doctors who receive internal training by Faceland in surgical procedures, it says.
asserted
it → carry → procedures
Surgeons in the UK told us upper eyelid surgery typically takes about three hours, including preparation, surgery and post-operation care.
asserted
surgery → tell → preparation
But Faceland patients we have spoken to say they spent less than an hour at the clinics.
asserted
they → speak → clinics
Faceland says allowing practitioners to perform a higher volume of treatments helps significantly lower costs.
asserted
practitioners → say → costs
'They cut away too much of my skin'
asserted
They → cut → skin
Eight days after her Faceland bleph surgery, Laura, not her real name, made her first of four visits to A&E because her eyelid wounds had reopened.
asserted
wounds → make → A&E
Her procedure at the company's Amsterdam clinic in June had seemingly gone smoothly, but problems began when she took her stitches out back home in the UK, something many patients do when they have treatment abroad.
asserted
they → go → treatment
The crescent shaped cuts above her eyes which had been held together by the stitches came apart, exposing raw, red wounds which became infected.
asserted
which → hold → wounds
This should hardly ever happen if a practitioner has been properly trained, UK surgeons told us.
asserted
surgeons → happen → us
The first time this happened, Laura, who is in her early 40s, says she called Faceland's emergency helpline several times, but could not get through.
uncertain
she → happen → helpline
Desperate, she rushed to A&E.
"When I closed my eyes for too long the tension would cause my wounds to open up again," she says.
asserted
she → rush → eyes
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
