Mum feared boob would 'explode' after ruptured implant swells to size of melon

A mum was left fearing one of her boobs would explode after her ruptured implant left it swelling to the size of a melon.

Hannah Packham, 30, opted for breast enlargement surgery in 2014 and went from a 32A to a 32D.

She spent the last few years happy and confident in her decision.

Recently, though, she noticed one was growing bigger than the other.

Over the course of a week her boob grew to “five times” its usual size, leading Hannah to think she had developed breast cancer.

READ MORE: Anti-ageing pillow bra makes the Internet very mad

In the months that followed, medics desperately tried to figure out the problem, which left Hannah having to cut one of the cups out of her bras just to make room for the swollen breast.

After she had them take out, she complained that she was left with the “chest of a ten-year-old” and opted to wear hoodies for months as her confidence plummeted.

She decided to have new 32F implants, but says they are the “perfect boobs” she used to have as they’ve been left looking wonky.

READ MORE: Pregnancy and breastfeeding lower risk of early menopause

“It just blew up to the size of a melon. It felt as heavy as one too. It went five times as big. It was like I was nine months pregnant.

“Every day I would wake up and it would be just that little bit bigger and there were loads of blue veins.

“As you do I googled it and I just convinced myself I had breast cancer. I just felt I couldn't be close to my husband. I was so embarrassed.” She said of her ordeal.

The embarrassment didn’t end there.

One day her daughter, Ruby, six, came home from school with a handwritten note that said “When will your boobies go away so you have normal boobies?”

The wait was unavoidable, given a six waiting list, a wait that Hannah described as “torture”.

READ MORE: Hair dye linked to breast cancer risk

Doctors are still baffled as to why it ruptured, but Hannah was left with a £2,000 bill to have the implants removed.

She explained that the doctor said it looked like it had been “trod on” but that she hadn’t fallen over or had any impact on the area to cause it.

Now, she’s keen to warn people of some of the lesser known risks involved in getting implants.

Breastcancer.org says that an implant rupture can happen because of normal ageing of the implant, trauma caused by a car accident, a needle insertion during a biopsy, or other factors.

A 2013 study found that over half of ruptured implants were caused because of damage to the surgical instruments used during the initial surgery.

“Obviously I can't tell people not to go and get plastic surgery as I've had them done again. But if I hadn't had them done in the first place I wouldn't have this saggy skin on my boob.

“The doctors don't know why they ruptured. It wasn't like I had a fall or was putting a lot of pressure on my chest. But I just want to tell people of the risks involved in getting them done.”

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK: