Body Positivity
‘I Finally Love My Figure After Years Of Fat-Shaming From Cruel Trolls’
The under-recognized condition causes her body to swell.
Ioana Chira, a plus-size influencer had been suffering from insults and trolls who looked down on her body. But many were not educated on lipedema (also called lipoedema), a condition where fat cells in the body are inflamed and cause terrible pain. Patients usually experience swelling particularly on the leg and buttocks.
The UK model was offered by Dr. David Amron a radical treatment to help with her condition.
Ioana goes through terrible fat-shaming comments all the time, and she’d only gotten to terms with her condition. She was finally learning to love her own figure no matter the shape. The 29-year-old spoke with The Sun, “I know this surgery will make a huge difference to the way I look and I need to think carefully about whether it is the right thing for me.”
“I’ve had body confidence issues my whole life and it has taken a long time to get to the point where I love my figure just the way it is.”
She admitted, “I remember the last time I lost a lot of weight, I did not feel like myself anymore and I was not happy. I am grateful to Dr. Amron for what he is offering and I want to help spread the message that lipoedema can be treated, but I need to weigh up whether it’s in my best interests to go ahead.”
The pain, at stage 4, can debilitate the patient to the point they might have to be confined to a wheelchair. Lipedema is commonly found in women with much fewer cases in men.
One in every nine women in Britain is believed to have this condition, which is a very under-recognized disorder that Ioana is trying to raise awareness of. Coincidentally, Ioana has been living an active lifestyle and grew her page with her fitness achievements before she discovered that she had lipedema in 2018.
“Lipoedema has caused so much pain over the years. When I was a teenager I was called fat and a whale and horrible things like that.”
“As I got older I started working out regularly but I found it impossible to reduce the size of my legs. At one point my top half was a size 12 but my bottom half was still a size 16 and people assumed I’d had plastic surgery.” she shared.
“I spent a lot of time trying to convince people that I had not but they often would not believe me.”
Ioana shared that her relatives from her father’s side “are big” and believe it’s genetic. Until she was one day was DMed by a woman who told her about lipoedema. She began researching about it and was convinced that was what she had.
Recalling her situation, she said people “can almost see my ribs, but my legs are so large.” But the healthcare practitioner she met wasn’t familiar with the condition and referred her to a specialist at St George’s hospital. The experts told her that it was a condition easy to spot.
“When you have lipoedema the fat on your body feels different to normal fat.”
“I was crying for about a week after being diagnosed. On the one hand, I was relieved because I realized that everything that happened, it was not my fault.”
“But on the other hand, I had to accept it was never going to go away. I was stuck with this chronic condition for the rest of my life.”
Dr. Amron’s method is basically a merge of liposuction and body contouring aiming to reduce weight.
The expert explained why he reached out to Ioana, “The thing I tried to get across to Ioana is that she is only 28 but is already at stage three of lipoedema.”
“Lipoedema tends to spike when you go through puberty and it can spike again if she gets pregnant or goes through menopause as it is aggravated by major hormonal changes.”
The cost of treatment ranges from £3000 and £16,000 depending on the complexity and severity of the condition.
The doctor explains that she’s going to need two surgeries on the arms and legs. She’ll also be left with loose skins and have to refrain from working out while recovering.
The reason that she doesn’t experience much pain is thanks to her active lifestyle where she goes to the gym five to six times a week. She shared her thoughts, “I am considering having the surgery but I do feel nervous about going through such a big change.”
“The most important thing to me is being happy in myself and I no longer feel that being skinny is essential to that.”
“But I would like to raise awareness of this lipoedema treatment so that women who are suffering and want to lose weight know that help is out there.”
