Breast Implant Illness and Explant Preparation with Erin Souza
If you follow me on social media or heard some of the episodes leading up to this one, you know that I am currently in the thick of navigating yet ANOTHER breast implant rupture. Except for this time, I am getting an EXPLANT. Yep, after over $100k over the years, many many surgeries, and a lot of complications, I have decided I am OVER the decision I made at 19.
(If you missed my last episode on my decision to get the explant surgery and more on my journey, you can listen to the last episode here!)
My journey to explanting has brought up many questions for me like What even IS breast implant illness? Is breast implant illness real? Do I HAVE to remove my implants even with no symptoms? How do I know what is best? All of the things. This episode is for you if you have breast implants, are considering getting breast implants OR removing them, if you’ve got a loved one that has them, OR if you’ve just been “feeling off” OR if you have any upcoming surgery.
Joining me on this episode is Erin Souza who is a board certified holistic health practitioner who actually specializes in Breast Implant Illness. She went through her own journey with it, and now she helps others navigate theirs!
Erin got her breast implants after breastfeeding. At the time, her post-breastfeeding breasts were holding her back from feeling the best she could. As someone who was in the gym 5 days a week, she still never felt “good” about her body image. So she decided to get implants. However, within just 3.5 short months, she started feeling symptoms: her thyroid went wonky, she was gaining weight, her hair was falling out, she had joint pain, rashes, brain fog, fatigue. After many trips to her doctor and living with her mystery symptoms for a year, she stumbled across a Facebook group that instantly shined light on what she was going through. Breast Implant Illness.
What Is Breast Implant Illness?
Breast Implant Illness is your body creating an autoimmune response to the chemicals inside of the implants that ultimately makes you feel sick. The other pathogens that come from getting the implant further knocks down your entire immune system and creates an environment for a whole lot of other funky stuff to thrive inside of you.
Personally, until I had this last implant rupture, I thought Breast Implant Illness people were a cult community who annoyed me with their attacks lol. I didn’t dismiss that people HAVE the illness, I just didn’t believe EVERYONE has it.
But there were a few things that changed this for me.
For one, I have celiac, which is an autoimmune. Meaning, I was genetically predisposed, but you have to have a stressor or trauma for it to be “triggered”. Who knows if my first implant rupture -or the implants specifically- are the cause of me being celiac? I would hear about all of these Breast Implant Illness symptoms (which the lists are always a mile long – it’s lengthy). BUT out of NOWHERE (before I found my rupture), I started having elevated liver enzymes which I had NEVER had. I took out all of my supplements, I don’t drink, there was NO real reason for my liver enzymes to be elevated. Once I knew I had a rupture, I was going to just replace my implants. Didn’t seem like a big deal to me…still. THEN…again out of nowhere:
- Horrible neck pain
- Eye bags
- Joints hurt
- Swelling
- Rashes
And whether these symptoms are DIRECTLY related or if they are psychosomatic (we won’t really know), I knew in my bones that it was time to get them out. For all I know, dating back to my random blood sugar issue and parasites COULD all be stemming from the implants. We won’t REALLY know.
Who Should Be Getting Implants Removed?
The decision to GET AND REMOVE implants are both highly personal and there is no “right way” to navigate implants. You should do your own due diligence and research and decide what is best for YOU. There are, however, people who ARE more susceptible to getting breast implant illness. It’s also important to note that while studies show 97% of women feel relief, only 23% of those women feel COMPLETE relief. Why? Because the implants have caused a whole host of other problems and dysfunction that require a lot of cleaning up.
What About Breast Implants with Infrared Sauna?
There are currently zero conclusive studies showing that breast implants are either safe OR unsafe in our bodies and that the toxic materials inside are actually contained inside the implant itself. This includes temperatures of 98.6 degrees and above – including increasing temperatures from saunas. With no studies showing the affects temperature can have on them, you do not want to put them under extreme temperatures to have them expand and contract, ultimately creating spaces for the toxic material to leak out into your body.
The Importance of Our Drainage Pathways before ANY Surgery
Drainage pathways are the routes our bodies have to remove our waste, toxins, pathogens etc. from our bodies via the colin, the liver, the skin, the lymph, the kidneys, and the brain. Each pathway relies on another to properly drain and detox – otherwise it’s like having a clogged toilet. It’s really important we have our drainage pathways open so our bodies can rid ourselves of toxins. The “backup” can present itself in a number of ways, from acne to constipation to low energy, to congestion, to joint pain, to no sweating, to a bad mindset, the list goes on.
To open the drainage pathways prior to ANY surgery:
- 2-3 days a week, drybrush (learn more here)
- 3-4 days per week a 30 minute castor oil packs throughout the body (liver, pelvis, lymph, throat, etc.)
- Move your bowels daily (OxyPowder magnesium)
- 2,000-5,000 mg Vitamin C/day
- Collagen
- Probiotic (spore based, ideally)
Post surgery you might consider:
- Heavy metal support (chlorella, spirulina, etc.)
- Bowel support
This and SO MUCH more (including what to do if you are keeping your implants) on this episode!
About Erin Souza
Erin Souza is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P) who helps women affected by breast implant illness overcome the root causes of their chronic symptoms through her signature E.X.P.L.A.N.T. method so they can reclaim their health and live life without limitations!
She has worked with over 120 individuals since 2021 on improving their health by using a science-backed, alternative medicine approach. You can go to www.ecrestorative.com or www.everythingbii.com to work with Erin through your symptoms. She also has some amazing free resources for you:
Get the Free Guide: 3 Ways to Reversing Breast Implant Illness and Explant Detox and a Free Facebook BII support group
In this episode, you will learn:
- What side effects can be caused by breast implants
- Why those side effects are happening
- How to prepare for your explant surgery
- Who should consider doing a deep dive on their breast implants
- What to look for when considering an explant
- Alternative medicine approach to healing from chronic symptoms
- What is the E.X.P.L.A.N.T Method
