Giovanna Coltro. Photo and video: Reproduction Instagram @gicoltro
Plastic surgery is often a common pursuit for the “perfect body,” as was the case for Giovanna Coltro, 24, Miss Baixada Santista, who underwent breast silicone implants. “It was always a personal matter, but not really about me. It was due to external pressure that we experience daily,” she says.
+ On social media, the model posted a video celebrating 11 months post-explant
In an interview with “g1,” from where the information comes, the young woman details her decision: “I did it for self-esteem. I thought I was less of a woman than they wanted me to be”. However, the dream of standard aesthetics turned into a nightmare.
Although she liked the results, Giovanna started showing some health symptoms shortly afterward, until she discovered “Silicone Illness.”
“I was always feeling sick, tired, exhausted. I slept poorly, had night sweats, body pain, hand pain, and tremors,” she recalls. And the symptoms went beyond: “I felt very cold and needed to wear six sweaters on mild temperature days to go out. My hair was falling out in handfuls, and my face, cheeks, eyes, and nose swelled up. I had no strength for anything.”
The young woman sought medical help, but the diagnosis was not easy to ascertain. “They said it was ‘all in my head,'” she shares about the professionals she saw, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, rheumatologist, and dermatologist.
After some research on the internet, Giovanna learned about “Silicone Illness” and soon contacted her plastic surgeon, who scheduled the implant removal for the same week in October 2021.
“When removed, the implants were deflated. The ‘gel bleeding‘ I had seen on the internet was real. Part of the silicone gel had leaked and released heavy metals into my body. As soon as I removed the silicone, the symptoms started disappearing. The back pain, tremors, and swelling stopped,” the Miss reports.
Now, she feels relief and well-being, and uses social media to raise awareness among other women about this little-known condition. “Only after I got my silicone did they give me a booklet saying the gel could leak. Why didn’t they tell me before?” she questions.
Giovanna Coltro. Photo and video: Reproduction Instagram @gicoltro
Photo and video: Reproduction Instagram @gicoltro
