Having been involved in the fitness industry as a professional competitor, trainer and fitness model for the past 10 years, I couldn’t help but notice that I am outnumbered by the number of women out there who have breast augmentation. I have nothing against those women, it is a personal choice and if they choose to get implants that is their own business. For myself, I am glad I didn’t go that route and stayed natural. As an athlete, I just feel like they would get in the way of the activities I enjoy doing. I certainly never listened to those in the competition world that said I needed implants in order to earn my IFBB Pro Card. I still earned it in 2007 wearing a suit full of padding:) More importantly, I have also heard more about the dangers these foreign objects can cause on a woman’s body.
One client in particular comes to mind when I read about some of the horror stories women have endured. Denise came to me with the hopes of losing stubborn body fat, adding lean muscle and to just feel overall better. She showed up religiously 3 days a week for approximately 6 months and worked her tail off. Not only did she do her homework in the gym, but she also followed her nutrition plan and did her homework in the kitchen too.
During her training sessions she began to open up about her issues she had with her breast implants, which she had removed about a year prior to training with me because they were slowly leaking silicone. She started having symptoms as early as 2 years after she got the silicon implants and the symptoms lasted even after she had them removed. These symptoms included: excessive weight gain, severe pain, heavy metal toxicity, adrenal fatigue, thyroid problems, hair loss, rashes, sores, and an anaphylactic episode which she was rushed to the ER for. Not only was she having all of these physical symptoms, but you can only imagine how she felt emotionally when her plastic surgeon was telling her it had nothing to do with the slow leaking implants.
Denise did put on some lean muscle and dropped some body fat, but I did notice that the results were happening very slowly considering all the effort she was putting into it. Not to mention that she had an unusually high heart rate during her sessions when her conditioning should have been improving. There is nothing more frustrating for a trainer when your client is working so hard and only getting minimal results.
She recently reached out to me and sent me this article, which is a must read for those ladies out there with implants. Again, I have nothing against your choice I just want to help spread Denise’s story just in case you personally are having health issues or know of another woman who is and can’t quite figure out what is causing the symptoms.
I was ironically speaking to another client last week whose sister is going through a very similar journey. Whether they tell you silicone and saline are safe, the implants themselves have chemicals which can also be released into our systems. I am glad Denise took her health into her own hands and didn’t listen to her plastic surgeon, after all we know our bodies better than anyone else does.
Check out the below link to read more about Denise’s story and for more info on Breast Implant Illness! It is real and it’s up to us gals to keep each other informed. I think that it is great that the author, Paula Owens is helping to spread the word……..
If you are looking for a trainer to help you accomplish your fitness goals, contact me today for a FREE consultation!
Karen Mullarkey
“No Mullarkey” Personal Training
www.karenmullarkey.com