Breast Implant Backfire - Woman Removes Implants That Made Her Go Blind

Patients who want to gain a larger size to the breasts often have breast augmentation with breast implants to gain the desired size and shape to the breasts. While breast implant placement is generally considered to be a safe procedure, there are some health risks and complications that are associated with the surgery. Let’s take a look at a recent example of complications that happened to a British mother that she thinks is connected to a hard to diagnose breast implants issue.

Breast Implant Backfire – British Mom Experiences Blindness

According to a mom in Britian, she was left temporarily blind after her breast implant surgery. The patient had the surgery to gain DD-sized breast implants when she was only nineteen years of age.

The patient, Danielle Sheehan, who is now thirty-two-years-old had the breast implants placed in her body in 2010 after she won a beauty makeover worth $6000. At the time, Sheehan was working as a model and her breasts were a C-cup size. She wanted to have bigger breasts in order to further her career.

Unfortunately, shortly after Sheehan had the breast implants placed in her body, she started to experience flare-ups of eczema. She decided to visit a doctor to try and determine the reasons for the flare-ups and her doctor told her the issue was stress.

The health issues experienced by her body continued to occur. Some of the problems included thinning hair on the scalp and a loss of her vision after she gave birth to a baby.

Sheehan told a reporter, “After I had my son and over the last year, I had constant eczema, weeping skin and dry eyes – I ended up in [the emergency room] because I couldn’t see. I felt like I was slowly dying, and I just didn’t feel well at all.”

Sheehan came to believe that her breast implants were the reason for the health issues she was experiencing. In order to address her health problems, Sheehan sold her car so she could raise the necessary funds to have the breast implants removed. Once they were removed from the body, each of her ailments immediately went away. She told the reporter, “The moment the implants came out I felt so much better.”

Breast Implant Backfire – Possible Reason for Blindness Experienced by Patient

When asked about the reason for the blindness that occurred after the birth of her child, Sheehan believes she suffered from Breast Implant Illness (BII) which is a condition that is still being studied by medical professionals. The symptoms of Breast Implant Illness can also vary per person.

“Breast Implant Illness” is a term that describes a collection of symptoms that some patients have reported experiencing after breast implant surgery. While this is not a comprehensive listing of the symptoms, they have been known to include pain in the joints and muscles, hair loss, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and a rash. The exact cause of Breast Implant Illness is not currently identified but there are some theories that it could be related to an infection or autoimmune or inflammatory responses. There are even some doctors who diagnose BII by ruling out other possible reasons for the symptoms described by the patient.

The idea that breast implants could cause any health problems for patients was initially dismissed by some members of the medical community. However, this attitude has changed over the years including a plastic surgeon from Michigan who told a reporter, “Throughout my training, I was told [Breast Implant Illness] was hogwash – and that’s what I believed. Plastic surgery literature is not supportive of the notion of Breast Implant Illness.”

Having said that, this plastic surgeon did say that most women who make the decision to have breast implants do not experience any type of adverse effects. “A vast majority of my patients tolerate breast implants just fine.”

While Breast Implant Illness can be difficult to diagnose and might require ruling out other possible conditions, Sheehan has made it her mission to increase awareness about Breast Implant Illness. Her goal is to make sure that other women do not have to experience the same type of health problems that happened to her after breast implant surgery.

“I feel safe in my body now, I feel emotionally stable, the rashes around my eyes have gone and the eczema is trailing off now.” She went on to add, “I don’t think anyone would know – you never would put hair loss and rashes down to having implants.”

In order to spread the word about BII, Sheehan has posted on TikTok where she shares information about the condition. Thanks to her education efforts, she has been contacted by other women who have experienced the same issues after their breast implants.

“So many girls have messaged me since seeing my video on TikTok…to say they’re getting a consultation to get their implants removed.”

- MA