‘Ms. Miami’ warns people about butt injections; says 59-inch rear was not worth it

A Miami-based model has written a book to warn women about the dangers that butt implants can cause after she experienced firsthand several rounds of illegal butt injections 13 years ago that ballooned her bottom to 59 inches.

Courtney Barnes, 35, got the illegal injections at a party in 2006 when she was just 22, according to the Daily Mail. Since that time, Barnes, known as “Ms. Miami,” has become an Instagram star with nearly a million followers, but is now recounting her perils with butt implants as a precautionary tale.

READ MORE: Death of woman who succumbed to illegal butt injections ruled homicide

The injections have now caused Barnes’ butt to be discolored and to sag, which has prompted taunts and mean-spirited comments from many of her IG followers. Barnes, who suffered from body dysmorphia disorder (BDD), is now trying to get the filler removed. She said she wrote her memoir, I Am Not My Body, But I Wanted a Bigger Butt, to keep young women from experiencing what she has gone through.

“At one point I wanted a bigger butt at any cost, but now I realize it could cost me my life and that’s why I wanted to bring the awareness to other women,” Barnes said, according to the Daily Mail. “I was preoccupied and overly conscious of my body, of my shape, before I got my butt done.”

Before the injections, Barnes said she tried exercising and would do squats to increase her booty but it seemed to be working in reverse.

“When a girl told me about the procedure, I jumped both feet in on that. I already had weight issues and didn’t like my body, it was just a recipe for disaster,” Barnes told the news outlet.

READ MORE: ‘Light’ sentence angers family after fake nurse sentenced for lethal butt injections

Fortunately so far for Barnes, she hasn’t developed any health complications from the injections, according to surgeon Dr. Gonzalo Mosquera.

Appearing on British website Barcroft.tv, Mosquera said: “We see a lot of complications with that, some patients get a lot of symptoms, a lot of pain, they can’t sleep, they can’t lean on it, they can’t rest. It’s an awful, illegal treatment. Fortunately Courtney doesn’t have a lot of symptoms besides the size and the lumps but at any point in life people can develop symptoms,” he added.

Barnes said it will cost more than $20,000 to undergo butt reconstruction surgery, where the fillers are removed. And the procedure has its own health risks. Still, she says she will definitely get it done to stop the social media bullying and to “look like the girl next door.”

“I may look like a circus freak because of my booty but I am still a human, I am a daughter, I am a woman, I am an entrepreneur and I am figuring out life just like everyone else — I just want people to see me for me,” she added.