An Australian personal trainer was told not to remove her breast implants because it would ruin her ‘Sports Illustrated body’, despite them making her ill.
Bec Dolan has had her breast implants for more than a decade, but after beginning to suffer with stomach problems, fatigue and inflamed breasts, she knew something wasn’t right.
The 33-year-old ended up being desperate to have her implants removed even though she loved them.
In July 2019, Bec found out her breast implants had been recalled, which understandably concerned her. Bec, who’s based in New York, explained she hadn’t been in good health for a while, but her health had been at its worst in the two years leading up to this.
Speaking to RealSelf, she said:
I was also having all these crazy stomach problems ever since I got the implants put in, but I didn’t think of the two as related at all. Being in the health and wellness industry, I know that women’s allergies can change every few years, so I figured I was just developing new allergies and cut out sugar, gluten, dairy, and grains. I barely ate meat. I did regular detoxes. And my gut was still a mess.
[…] But in July 2019, I found out that my implants had been recalled. I reached out to my original plastic surgeon, and he was like, ‘You’re fine, there’s nothing wrong with them, don’t take them out for no reason.’ I contacted the manufacturer for more info, and that was useless too, so I put it on the back-burner.
Despite her surgeon dubbing her ‘fine’, Bec continued to suffer health problems including bad skin, having trouble sleeping, and even her hair falling out.
A few months after her initial concerns, Bec went to the hospital for ‘every test possible’ when a doctor finally told her she needed her implants removed as soon as possible.
Bec then started looking into breast implant illness – something she initially thought was ‘bullsh*t’ but after doing her own research realised it could have been the cause of her problems.
Bec added:
I had heard of breast implant illness, but I thought it sounded like bullsh*t – and to be honest, I didn’t care, because I really loved my boobs and didn’t want to give them up. An implant can cause stomach issues? Fine, then I just won’t eat gluten forever! That was my mentality. I would put up with any issue to keep my boobs.
She soon released the severity of the illness and visited several doctors asking to remove her implants. However many turned her away, saying it would ruin the way she looked.
One doctor even said to her: ‘You’ve got a Sports Illustrated body and I’m going to leave you looking terrible, so I’m not doing it.’
Eventually, Bec found a doctor who understood her illness and agreed to do the procedure.
Six weeks on from having them removed, Bec misses her implants but says she feels a lot better and still loves her body.
In a Instagram post, she said:
Loving this bod of mine because SHE’S ALL MINE. Today I’m 1 week post #explant, I’m thinking clearer, energy levels are back and feeling all the feels about this new chapter. Yup hellooo NEW AESTHETIC – SAME ME – BETTER HEADSPACE
There are several symptoms of breast implant illness, including joint and muscle pain, chronic fatigue, depression, skin problems and hair loss.
While breast implant illness isn’t always medically recognised, if you are feeling unwell and are concerned about your implants, you should visit your GP.
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Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.