The constant struggle to meet beauty standards affects women all over the world and of all ages. Now imagine the pressure that women who really live by their image, like models, are put under. Although we all have insecurities and aspects of our appearance that we want to change, models can go to extremes in order to preserve their beauty, because, at the end of the day, it is necessary for them to continue working.
For this reason, aesthetic procedures are becoming more common and most of the time they are very safe due to constant research and innovation in the area. But even so, there are risks, however minimal, and the consequences can be dire. One of the greatest supermodels in history, Linda Evangelista, decided to tell the magazine People his story.
He says he has lived a “nightmare”
In 2016, Linda underwent a cosmetic procedure called CoolSculpting, which aims to reduce body fat in specific areas. This procedure consists of a cryolipolysis, which, in simple terms, is to freeze the fat for later destruction. It is one of the least invasive procedures that exist for fat reduction, since it does not require surgery and the recovery is relatively simple, since you can continue with your daily activities almost immediately.
Last year, Linda revealed that she had been unfortunate enough to experience one of the very rare (affecting less than 1 percent of people undergoing treatment) side effects associated with CoolSculpting: the development of paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH, for its initials in English), which, according to the model herself, altered her appearance in an irreversible way.
The reason I have not continued to work as my colleagues have is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq’s aesthetic procedure, CoolSculpting, which had the opposite effect as promised. My fat cells increased, not decreased, and I was permanently deformed, even after undergoing two painful corrective surgeries. My appearance, as the media has said, is unrecognizable.
The problems started right away
Three months after her procedure, Linda realized it wasn’t working. Lumps appeared in her chin area, her thighs and under her arm, in the area that she is exposed by wearing a bra. They were just the areas that were supposed to shrink, but the size of it was increasing. Later, these lumps hardened and she eventually lost feeling in them. Obviously, something had gone terribly wrong.
I tried to fix it myself, I thought I was doing something wrong. She did a lot of exercise and very strict diets and there came a point where she didn’t eat at all; I thought I was going crazy. When I went to the doctor, I took off my gown and started crying. I told him, ‘I haven’t eaten, I’m starving. What am I doing wrong?’. And he diagnosed me with PAH and I didn’t know what that was, but he told me diet and exercise weren’t going to make it any better.
It is not only an aesthetic problem, it is painful
The model said that, after her diagnosis, the Zeltiq company offered her to pay for her liposuction with a doctor approved by the company, but with a condition that Linda could not accept: there was a confidentiality agreement involved. So she herself paid for her corrective surgeries, but her body is still not the same.
It didn’t get any better. Lumps are bumps. And they are very tough. If I walk without a girdle, the friction between my thighs almost makes me bleed, because the fat is not soft, it is hard bumps rubbing against each other. My posture has been affected because I can no longer attach my arms to my body. I don’t think designers want to dress me up when I look like this.
“Why do we do this to our bodies?”
This problem has affected Linda in unimaginable ways, not only around her appearance and physical health, but also in how she perceives herself. In addition, the process has been very difficult for her and she has said that she fell into a “cycle of depression and deep sadness”.
Why do we feel the need to do this to our bodies? I always knew that one day I would grow old. And I know what happens to bodies with age. But I never thought I’d look like this. I don’t recognize myself in the mirror, but I don’t recognize myself as a person either. Linda Evangelista, the supermodel, is gone.
“I’m not going to hide anymore”
However, Linda has found a new strength and hopes that sharing her story so openly and honestly is the first step in helping people who are going through the same thing.
I hope I can get rid of some of the shame I feel and I want to help other people who are in the same situation as me. That’s my goal, I’m not going to hide anymore.