I struggle with my 34H big boobs but the NHS has denied me reduction op over simple rule change – now I feel betrayed
A WOMAN has been left feeling “betrayed” after the NHS denied her a breast reduction over a simple rule change.
Leonie Reynolds, 22, has size 34H boobs and has suffered from chronic back pain since the age of 12 as a result.
By the time she was a teen, she wore an E-cup bra but was told that doctors could not offer her a reduction until she was 18.
She told Essex Live: “I just got used to a certain level of pain, but I was always tired and a bit lethargic. And I started getting irritable around that age. In hindsight, it was due to the pain I was always in.
“It was a big point of insecurity for me. I was just the girl with the big chest from day one.”
Medics apparently told her to take ibuprofen and paracetamol and “just to kind of get on with it”.
When the pain became unbearable at the age of 16, the NHS again refused the operation and told her to try physiotherapy, she claimed.
When Leonie, from Chelmsford, Essex, did turn 18, doctors reportedly still pushed her to try other treatments, including strong painkillers like co-codamol.
She added: “I was a bit of a guinea pig, trial and error.”
Finally, in 2021, they agreed to put her forward for the surgery.
However, in the near-decade she waited for the decision, the rules around eligibility for breast reductions were tightened.
She says that she was told her BMI was too high and she had to lose weight before going under the knife, despite meeting all other criteria.
Leonie, who stands 5ft 4in tall said: “My normal weight is 12 stone 2, which I know is bigger than some but I didn’t ever see that as big, looking at the frame of my body. I felt like I was in proportion.”
In spite of the setback, she forged ahead and managed to shed a stone, only to be told she would have to keep her weight stable for another two years before she would be allowed the operation.
She fumed: “I felt betrayed by the NHS because they knew the overall hope was to get this reduction.
“Up until last year, my weight wasn’t stable, but that’s because they told me to lose the weight. For me, it just felt like I’ve done it all for nothing.”
This was made worse by the fact that a number of the medications she was put on by her doctors as she waited to turn 18 reportedly have weight gain as a side effect.
The crippling pain forced her to quit her job in 2019, which she says made her feel “depressed” and “drained”.
She is now fundraising to have the surgery privately abroad, saying: “It would make me feel like myself again.”
A spokesperson for the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System, said: “We wouldn’t be able to discuss individual cases, but would ask Leonie to please get in touch with her GP to talk about any concerns she may have, particularly in light of recent changes to our local service policy.
“Breast reduction surgery within mid and south Essex is only offered to patients who meet the clinical criteria set out in our service restriction policy.
“The eligibility criteria is designed to ensure that surgical procedures, such as breast reduction surgery, are only carried out when clinically necessary, safe, and after other less invasive treatment options have been tried.”