An Australian woman has detailed her debilitating struggle with an extremely rare condition that causes her breasts to grow to abnormally large proportions, leaving her ‘unable to breathe’.
Paige Hamilton, 29, said she has been refused a breast reduction as doctors have told her she must lose weight before they consider surgery.
However, she recently lost two stone and saw little difference to the size of her breasts, or the impact they have on her mobility.
‘I’ve lost a lot of weight. I’ve lost like close to 30 pounds and they haven’t changed in size,’ Ms Hamilton, who hails from New South Wales, Australia, said.
‘For all those people that say just lose weight, it will make them smaller, it doesn’t.’
Paige has gigantomastia, a severe form of macromastia, a condition which causes excessive breast tissue growth.
It can cause debilitating breast, back, neck and shoulder pain, among other symptoms.
Gigantomastia is thought to be caused by a range of factors, including hormonal changes, medications and autoimmune diseases.
Paige Hamilton lives with gigantomastia – a condition that causes the abnormal growth of breast tissue
It is thought to be extremely rare with just one in 28,000 women suffering from the condition and just a couple hundred recorded cases in medical journals.
The condition was made worse by Ms Hamilton’s recent pregnancy, which made her breasts even bigger.
At 5’2” and weighing 15 stone, she’s desperate for a breast reduction.
Her surgeon recommended losing weight before trying surgery, which is not guaranteed to work.
‘I’ve been at the same weight for a long time now, and I’m still gaining [weight on my breasts],’ she said.
‘I’m unable to lie on my chest because it kind of feels like I can’t breathe.
To ease the pain, she uses a maternity pillow for support.
‘The only thing you can really do is have a reduction, which is not guaranteed to slow the growth,’ she said.
The influencer said she has been refused a breast reduction operation as surgeons told her she must first lose weight.
‘There is no treatment for gigantomachia,’ she said.
‘The only thing you can really do is have a reduction, which is not guaranteed to slow the growth.’
Annie Turner-Hawkins, a 66-year-old fetish model from the US, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest natural breasts (102ZZZ).
She also has gigantomastia and has spoken out about the struggles of having such a large bust — which weigh 30kg (66lbs) each.
Ms Turner-Hawkins previously said she has to ask herself ‘who is going to attack me today’ when she goes out.
Last month, a case of unilateral gigantomastia, which causes one breast to grow abnormally large, was reported in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.
Doctors reported an ‘extremely unusual case’ of a 40-year-old housewife who developed the condition in one breast due to hormone therapy.
