Looking for Love with Lipedema:
Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips Makes Waves
Following Liposuction Surgery and Spills Her
Struggles with the Disorder
GET DIAGNOSED
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Think lipedema can’t affect head-turning ladies living in the spotlight? Meet the bold, blonde bombshell who famously confessed, “I thought I was the show’s box-checking fat girl.”
Shaughna Phillips, 26, the soulmate-searching star of steamy reality television series, Love Island, revealed to the U. K.’s The Sun Magazine, “My legs had been my biggest body hang-up since I can remember…It has been the one thing I have always said I would want to change about myself.” The former London council worker admitted to enduring years of grueling workouts at the gym six days a week in an effort to slim down and tone-up her disproportionately larger legs. While her upper body whittled to a slight size six, her pants size remained stubbornly stuck at a size 14. Pre-stardom snapshots of the small screen starlet reveal toned arms and shredded, washboard abs along with thick, column-like legs and “cankles,” the classic characteristics of lipedema that plague the body. Phillips, who boasts 1.5 million Instagram followers, credits her fans’ concerns and inquiries for acceptance of her body’s condition and road to recovery.
Ready for Her Close-Up? Not Really
Prior to starring as last winter’s villa resident on the reality dating series, Phillips had never heard of lipedema. All she knew was that she was the target of relentless bullying about her body once her legs started to take on a life of their once puberty hit. The merciless taunting throughout her teens undoubtedly contributed to her crippling insecurity, self-consciousness, and lack of confidence, especially when it came to stripping down for scenes on Love Island. She would secretly ask the wardrobe department to dress her in full-length trousers and thigh-high boots, while her slimmer co-stars frolicked in the tropical, turquoise waters wearing nothing more than body-baring, itty-bitty bikinis. The entire situation really killed her confidence, prompting Phillips to seek the counseling of a therapist between episodes. It wasn’t until fans started sending messages asking if she had lipedema that Phillips sought the advice of a doctor and was diagnosed with stage two lipedema. She immediately underwent surgical intervention to manage her fat deposition disorder and often dishes the details surrounding her liposuction journey and lipedema awareness on her social media platforms.
Life after Lipo
After having two liters of fat buildup removed from her calves during liposuction surgery, Phillips took to YouTube to explain the process, as well as the post-op procedures she currently takes to keep her legs looking slim and camera-ready. When asked about symptoms of lipedema, Phillips lists all the classics: painful fat, swelling, bruising, and tenderness of the skin, sagginess behind the knees, random sensations of pins and needles in the lower extremities, mottled skin tone, and the emotional toll of living with such a perplexing, underdiagnosed disease. She also talks about managing the disorder and is a huge proponent of the efficacy of well-fitting compression garments and touts the reason for her successful surgery was in part due to wearing compression garments for prolonged hours. She confesses that if she fails to wear her trusty compression garments, her legs will immediately swell. Phillips also admits there is no definitive cure for the condition that affects 11% of the female population, but that liposuction is the most effective, long-term treatment to help mitigate its effects and deter its progression into latter stages.
The unabashed beauty doesn’t hold anything back, either.
She is proud of her decision to undergo the plastic surgery procedure and loves to flaunt her post-op pics on social media showing off her new sexy, slim stems in scantily clad get-ups. She even exposes the not-so-sexy side effects like swollen, bandaged legs and blood-stained bed sheets! Phillips also posts close-up shots of the surgery sites, revealing virtually no scarring.
With a newfound love for her legs, renewed confidence, and a new lease on life, we can only hope this beauty is heading back to the beach in search of lifelong love…at last.
You can get Shaughna’s latest updates on life, love, and lipedema @shaughnaphillips on Instagram or subscribe to her YouTube channel at Shaughna Phillips.
To learn more, please contact our Beverly Hills, California office to schedule a consultation with any of our highly trained specialists.