4 Celebs Who Removed Their Breast Implants Due To Illness

The Mayo Clinic explains that people get breast implant surgery, also known as "breast augmentation" or "augmentation mammoplasty," for many different reasons, whether it's to feel better about how they look or to restore the appearance of their breasts following a disease like breast cancer. 

However, a growing number of people who have breast implants report what is known as "breast implant illness," says Breastcancer.org. They add that it may occur regardless of the type of implant or whether the implant has ruptured. In some, symptoms may happen right away, and in others, it may take years before they experience problems.

There has been a wide range of symptoms, many of them debilitating, that have been reported by patients. These can include fatigue, joint and muscle pain, memory problems, breathing difficulty, sleep issues, rashes, dry mouth and eyes, anxiety, depression, headaches, hair loss, and gastrointestinal problems.

Due to their high-profile lives, quite a few celebrities have offered themselves as spokespeople for this condition, describing what they went through and how breast implant removal helped them regain their lives.

Speaking to her fans via an Instagram post that has since been removed (via Today), former Disney Channel star and aspiring lifestyle and wellness entrepreneur Ashley Tisdale revealed in 2020 that she had had her breast implants removed the previous winter because she was "struggling with minor health issues."

"Years ago I underwent breast enhancement surgery," Tisdale shared. "Prior to the surgery, I constantly felt my body was less than, and thought this change would make me feel more whole and more secure about myself. And for a short period of time...it did."

The actress went on to add, however, that she had begun to experience "minor health issues that just were not adding up — food sensitivities as well as gut issues." Believing that these might be related to her breast implants, the star opted for implant removal surgery.

In a July 2016 post on Facebook, Crystal Hefner, the wife of the late "Playboy" founder, Hugh Hefner, said she had her breast implants removed because they were "slowly poisoning her." Her illness, which was initially diagnosed as Lyme disease, began with aches, bladder pain, brain fog, and fatigue. However, the model said she developed food allergies, thyroid disease, and unbearable pain that left her unable to get out of bed.

"I had to miss my Summer DJ residency at my favorite Vegas spot, the Rehab Pool at The Hard Rock Hotel," Hefner told her followers. "The fatigue was so severe that I could barely leave the house or drive. I was afraid to get up there in front of a crowd and go blank with brain fog."

Eventually, Hefner realized through posts from her fans that what she was actually dealing with could be related to her implants. "I found a Breast Implant Illness website and Facebook group with almost 3,000 members. My symptoms matched theirs," she wrote.

Explaining that implants can break down over time and release chemicals, making the person sick, Hefner said she had gotten hers taken out. "Instantly I noticed my neck and shoulder pain was gone and I could breathe much better," she said.

Chrissy Teigen took to her Instagram in May 2020 to reveal that she was getting her breast implants removed in order to feel better in her body.

"A lot of people are understandably curious (and nosey!) so I'll just say it here: I'm getting my boobs out!" she wrote. "They've been great to me for many years but I'm just over it. I'd like to be able to zip a dress in my size, lay on my belly with pure comfort!"

Tiegen added that everything was fine. "No biggie! So don't worry about me! All good. I'll still have boobs, they'll just be pure fat. Which is all a tit is in the first place. A dumb, miraculous bag of fat."

The exceptionally open celebrity later responded to followers who doubted that she'd had her implants removed by posting pictures of herself in a yellow bikini pulled up to reveal her still-healing scars. "Trust me," she jokingly told them (via Yahoo!).

Karen McDougal, known both for her work for "Playboy" as well as her 10-month affair with Donald Trump, said she got breast implants because she felt it would make her feel more like a woman. However, she countered that by adding that if she knew what she does now, she would have never gotten them (via National Center for Health Research).

Speaking to People, McDougal said that seven years after she got her implants, she began to have thyroid and adrenal problems, allergies, and was often sick. "It just never went away," she told the magazine.

"By the time I decided to have the implants removed, I felt like I was slowly dying," she wrote on the National Center for Health Research website. "All I could do was lay in bed, cry and pray to God, asking him to please 'don't take me yet..give me one more day!'"

McDougal said it was only after a year of researching breast implant illness and doctors who were experts in it that she realized she needed to have the "toxic bags" removed right away.