Model from New Zealand suffers from a crippling breast implant illness – “Some days she can’t get out of bed. She can’t walk or bend over.”
- Replies 5
After being burdened by the enormous pressure to conform to unrealistic beauty standards for years, a social media star is celebrating self-love and healing by bidding adieu to her breast implants for good.
Sarah Harris, 29, who has modelled for Playboy and Maxim, is now on a mission to warn other women that going under the knife isn’t the ticket to happiness and could lead to serious health repercussions.
Ms Harris revealed that she suffered from a debilitating illness as a result of getting silicone gel breast implants. She was in denial for years before accepting that she was better off without them, fearing that she would lose her looks without big breasts.
The decision to get implants came after doctors removed a benign lump in her breast. The procedure left her with two different cup sizes.
“I was modelling for companies like Maxim and being told by doctors, ‘Okay, now you’re gonna have one A-breast and one D,’ and I was like ‘Oh my God, put implants in’,” she said.
“I finally woke up,” Sarah wrote. Image Credit: @iamsarahharris
In 2017, she got new implants in Thailand. Within a few months, she began to experience concerning symptoms including full-body rashes, hair loss, chronic fatigue, and excruciating pain that made it nearly impossible for her to get out of bed or walk the dog.
“I ended up having every test under the sun to try to find out what was going on. They told me I had IBS, auto-immune issues, and all these different things that just kept coming up inconclusive.”
“I just kept thinking ‘No, it can’t be that!’’. I kept looking everywhere to try to figure out what else could be the cause as I didn’t want to take away my looks,” she added.
Her fiancé Joshua Antonio Williams described her condition as “a 29-year-old living in an 89-year-old’s body”.
“Some days she can’t get out of bed. She can’t walk or bend over,” he detailed.
Eventually, a new doctor referred Sarah to a New Zealand surgeon. She was made to undergo Thermography scans that showed major inflammation in both breasts.
The surgeon revealed that she had “inflammatory and auto-immune symptoms associated with her breast implants. Although these have not ruptured, it appears that she now has established symptoms of a breast implant illness.”
Sarah’s Thermography scan showed inflammation. Image Credit: news.com.au
He went on to advise her to remove the implants completely. Finally accepting that it was for the best, Sarah agreed to undergo an explant surgery.
Just hours after the procedure, Sarah said that she felt the improvement.
“I feel like I don’t have to squish my shoulders forward when I’m walking now… I’m grateful for every breath I take. I can take a deep breath now and I don’t feel trapped. It’s amazing,”
Harris has followed in the footsteps of other famous Kiwis who got their breast implants removed recently. Some of them claimed they were suffering from breast implant illness (BII) as well.
Although some experts in the field argue that there’s no sufficient evidence that BII is a genuine medical condition, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated in 2020 that “symptoms such as fatigue, memory loss, rash, brain fog, and joint pain may be associated with breast implants,”
“While the FDA doesn’t have definitive evidence demonstrating that breast implants are the cause of these symptoms, the current evidence supports that some patients experience systemic symptoms that may resolve when their breast implants are removed.”
Surgeons have also warned women that getting implants done in cheap places such as Thailand may increase the risk of health complications or dodgy implants being used as an alternative to ones of higher quality.
Post Credit: @iamsarahharris
However, Harris’ surgeon in New Zealand did not think that her health issues were linked to the quality of surgery in Thailand.
Recently, Harris shared her journey with her Instagram followers, divulging the difficulties she experienced due to a decision she made when she was 21 to be more ‘feminine’. She said she was an “emotionally damaged, impressionable girl” back then.
“I’ve been a part of a world consumed by the superficial. It will take time but I’m ready to unburden my shoulders of the weight of endless comparisons and insecurities and truly fall in love with my remarkable body,” she wrote.
She also reminded others to love themselves for the things that made them beautiful and “not how big your breasts are!”
Sarah and Joshua. Image Credit: @iamsarahharris
“It’s so easy for you to say you just need to love yourself and who you are. But at the end of the day, I can wholeheartedly say that even if you go and change, you’re never going to be happy,” she added.
Having her fiancé’s utmost support throughout also meant the world to Sarah.
“People are asking ‘How’s it affecting you? Are you okay with her losing her boobs?’. For me, I just genuinely want her to be happy and healthy–that will make me happy,” he said.
“When you love someone, truly every ounce of their being, love their soul… The superficial things like their appearance and aesthetic just don’t become as important.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Do you know anyone who has suffered from BII? Share them with us in the comments!
Learn more about Breast Implant Illness (BII) by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Doctor Youn
Sarah Harris, 29, who has modelled for Playboy and Maxim, is now on a mission to warn other women that going under the knife isn’t the ticket to happiness and could lead to serious health repercussions.
Ms Harris revealed that she suffered from a debilitating illness as a result of getting silicone gel breast implants. She was in denial for years before accepting that she was better off without them, fearing that she would lose her looks without big breasts.
The decision to get implants came after doctors removed a benign lump in her breast. The procedure left her with two different cup sizes.
“I was modelling for companies like Maxim and being told by doctors, ‘Okay, now you’re gonna have one A-breast and one D,’ and I was like ‘Oh my God, put implants in’,” she said.
“I finally woke up,” Sarah wrote. Image Credit: @iamsarahharris
In 2017, she got new implants in Thailand. Within a few months, she began to experience concerning symptoms including full-body rashes, hair loss, chronic fatigue, and excruciating pain that made it nearly impossible for her to get out of bed or walk the dog.
“I ended up having every test under the sun to try to find out what was going on. They told me I had IBS, auto-immune issues, and all these different things that just kept coming up inconclusive.”
“I just kept thinking ‘No, it can’t be that!’’. I kept looking everywhere to try to figure out what else could be the cause as I didn’t want to take away my looks,” she added.
Her fiancé Joshua Antonio Williams described her condition as “a 29-year-old living in an 89-year-old’s body”.
“Some days she can’t get out of bed. She can’t walk or bend over,” he detailed.
Eventually, a new doctor referred Sarah to a New Zealand surgeon. She was made to undergo Thermography scans that showed major inflammation in both breasts.
The surgeon revealed that she had “inflammatory and auto-immune symptoms associated with her breast implants. Although these have not ruptured, it appears that she now has established symptoms of a breast implant illness.”
Sarah’s Thermography scan showed inflammation. Image Credit: news.com.au
He went on to advise her to remove the implants completely. Finally accepting that it was for the best, Sarah agreed to undergo an explant surgery.
Just hours after the procedure, Sarah said that she felt the improvement.
“I feel like I don’t have to squish my shoulders forward when I’m walking now… I’m grateful for every breath I take. I can take a deep breath now and I don’t feel trapped. It’s amazing,”
Harris has followed in the footsteps of other famous Kiwis who got their breast implants removed recently. Some of them claimed they were suffering from breast implant illness (BII) as well.
Although some experts in the field argue that there’s no sufficient evidence that BII is a genuine medical condition, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated in 2020 that “symptoms such as fatigue, memory loss, rash, brain fog, and joint pain may be associated with breast implants,”
“While the FDA doesn’t have definitive evidence demonstrating that breast implants are the cause of these symptoms, the current evidence supports that some patients experience systemic symptoms that may resolve when their breast implants are removed.”
Surgeons have also warned women that getting implants done in cheap places such as Thailand may increase the risk of health complications or dodgy implants being used as an alternative to ones of higher quality.
Post Credit: @iamsarahharris
However, Harris’ surgeon in New Zealand did not think that her health issues were linked to the quality of surgery in Thailand.
Recently, Harris shared her journey with her Instagram followers, divulging the difficulties she experienced due to a decision she made when she was 21 to be more ‘feminine’. She said she was an “emotionally damaged, impressionable girl” back then.
“I’ve been a part of a world consumed by the superficial. It will take time but I’m ready to unburden my shoulders of the weight of endless comparisons and insecurities and truly fall in love with my remarkable body,” she wrote.
She also reminded others to love themselves for the things that made them beautiful and “not how big your breasts are!”
Sarah and Joshua. Image Credit: @iamsarahharris
“It’s so easy for you to say you just need to love yourself and who you are. But at the end of the day, I can wholeheartedly say that even if you go and change, you’re never going to be happy,” she added.
Having her fiancé’s utmost support throughout also meant the world to Sarah.
“People are asking ‘How’s it affecting you? Are you okay with her losing her boobs?’. For me, I just genuinely want her to be happy and healthy–that will make me happy,” he said.
“When you love someone, truly every ounce of their being, love their soul… The superficial things like their appearance and aesthetic just don’t become as important.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Do you know anyone who has suffered from BII? Share them with us in the comments!
Learn more about Breast Implant Illness (BII) by watching the video below:
Video Credit: Doctor Youn
.png){kind=icon}
