Model and reality star Blac Chyna, whose real name is Angela White, is opening up about her recent decision to undo years of cosmetic work, including having her breast implants removed. The procedure, known as implant surgery, is becoming more common, in part, because of the greater societal trend toward a more natural appearance.
“I was so young, I just wanted that body, because I saw everybody, you know, my crew getting it. And I wanted to be with the ‘it girls,'” White said in an interview with ABC News.
Blac Chyna, known for her extreme hourglass figure, red carpet appearances, reality TV and hip-pop music videos, became the alter ego that made Angela White famous, but along the way she says she started to lose the real her. of herself. Recently, she turned inward and began focusing on her health, was baptized, and earned a doctorate in liberal arts from a seminary college.
“As I started losing weight, my features really started to come out. Like, my cheekbones and everything. So with all the filler, this has really started to stick out now that my face has gotten thinner. Even my body. I just wasn’t happy with how I looked,” White said.
Blac Chyna arrives at the 54th Annual NAACP Image Awards held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 25, 2023 in Los Angeles.
Xavier Collin/image Press Agency/Sipa USA via AP
At 34, the mother of two wants to reverse the look that led her to stardom. She recently had her dermal fillers removed, had seven rounds of illegal buttock injections removed and her breast implants reduced, documenting the process to her 17 million Instagram followers.
“As you can see, I had a breast reduction, one of the best decisions I could have made in a long, long time,” White said in an Instagram video.
And it’s not just White who is going under the knife to have the implants removed. In 2020, plastic surgeons removed more than 36,000 breast implant augmentations — a nearly 8 percent increase from the previous year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The famous plastic surgeon Dr. Gabriel Chiu has seen the implant trend firsthand, saying some patients are opting for a smaller size.
“I find that a lot of patients want to be more normal, which has been the trend,” Chiu told ABC News’ Zohreen Shah.
And although they are still quite popular, the number of breast augmentation procedures has decreased in recent years, while the number of implants has increased, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons said.
Dr. Kevin Brenner, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Beverly Hills, said for many, having their implants removed is more than just a change of heart. She said breast augmentations have many potential complications.
Experts recommend removing or replacing implants every 10 to 15 years to prevent health problems. Last year, the FDA issued a safety warning after cancer cells were discovered in the capsule that forms around breast implants in some patients.
Brenner said that while squamous cell carcinomas are extremely rare, they are also very difficult to treat, adding that they can often be fatal.
The most commonly known complication is breast implant disease, or BII, a term used to describe a range of symptoms reported by people after using implants.
“Bachelorette” alum Clare Crawley, professional game show host Danica Patrick and RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage are among the celebrities who have come forward to say their breast implants caused troubling symptoms that prompted them to have them removed.
Brenner said he stopped putting in implants altogether after noticing some of his patients struggling with implant-related illnesses, including a colleague named Laurie Hanna, who asked him to use implants for her reconstruction surgery after battling breast cancer. Over time, Hanna developed what they believe was BII and eventually got the implants.
“There’s just something that hit me. And I just decided I just couldn’t take it anymore,” Brenner said.
While breast implant disease is not an official medical diagnosis, and research has remained inconclusive about any association between breast implants and long-term health, the FDA is now tracking symptoms associated with it.
Meanwhile, many who have their breast implants removed say they finally have the space to build a better relationship with their bodies – something Angela White knows firsthand.
“Beauty fades. Fashion fades. It is a new collection every season. Your brain and your mindset, you’ll have it for the rest of your life. You really have to start living in your truth,” White said.
