A bit Controversial but can see their point....

I didnt have any breast tissue like coco_ballerina, I paid for my op. It didnt even occur to me to go to the GP about it at all

I do think women with sever deformities/cancer reconstruction are entitled, but not those with no breasts/small breasts, thats just my opinon.

However, if the NHS are giving free BAs to small breasted women, there will always be people taking up the offer, so its the NHS' fault for offering this up. Not for me though, there's people more in need than me. Yes, it was devasting never growing breasts, but I was a healthy individual who could work to save up for my op, so i did.

Hi Nads. I’m amazed that you don’t consider not having ANY breast tissue, as a woman, to be a severe deformity. As I said in my post, if I had even developed small breasts I would’ve been over the moon but having nothing at all made me feel like I should join the circus.

At 18 years old I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, body dysmorphia, bulimia and depression, with not developing breasts being the core reason. It affected me profoundly in every area of my life so although I was physically a ‘healthy individual’ it had completely shattered my life to the point where I was almost unable to leave the house, so being operated on through the NHS really was a lifeline for me and has completely changed my quality of life.

In my eyes there’s an enormous distinction between having small breasts, which is normal, and having no breasts, which is not. And the impact of having no breasts will often be a lot more than how you look physically, which is why I fully support the availability of correction surgery through the NHS.

I didnt have any tissue either and it did affect me severely in terms of mental health, I just didn't consider going to the nhs, not sure why. I didn't say I didn't consider it a deformity though as I don't think all women without breasts would consider themselves 'deformed'

I considered myself a bit deformed because my nipples are badly inverted :-( I didn't think about going to the doc about it but if im honest, I didn't know it was an option. If I did, I would have went years ago about getting them fixed on the nhs. I have suffered for years with embarrasment to the extent that only my hubby has seen me naked and when I was a dancer years ago when they all used to get undressed in front of each other, I was like a little child trying to hide myself ( and with smaller boobs with it I felt like a freak)................so if I would have know I would have tried to get my nipples fixed FREE on the nhs. Free yes but so what, I dont smoke, I dont drink, Ive been off twice in fifteen years with flu, always go to work and my husband is a higher rate tax payer.

See this is the problem. People think they are entitled to whatever procedures they want on the NHS because "they pay their taxes".

The NHS is there for essential and emergency treatment. It is not there to give people free boob jobs, nose jobs, gastric bands, fertility treatment etc. It is there for essential operations, people who suffer diseases and accidents etc etc.

I pay taxes (at a higher rate) and I don't smoke or drink to excess etc etc so does that entitle me to a free boob job? Of course it doesn't!

I think we all need to remember why the NHS was originally set up. To save lives, not to give people procedures that they want because they pay their taxes or want bigger boobs!

I'm starting to think though that if I go to my GP and tell him how depressed I am, (even though I'm a size 10) he'll let me have liposuction on the NHS. After all, I've paid taxes and worked since 16 so I must be entitled to it!

Maybe if people stopped treating the NHS like a cosmetic surgery clinic, people like Cookie wouldn't have to pay for her life saving medication, we'd be able to afford more nurses and doctors and we could provide patients with better care and treatment.

Just to confirm - I never said a free boob job on the nhs, I have boobs they are small, so it is my decision to have them done, however, I said inverted nipples corrected and I think that this nice thread is not so nice anymore. I think lipo on the nhs is a bit extreme trying to make your point eh?

I think we should be able to have our own opinions and yes the NHS is there to save lives , this we know, I did not go running to the nhs expecting a boob job or anything of the kind, however I was merely stating that had I known that having inverted nipples sorted on the nhs then I would have asked the question.

I think its awful that this thread is making people such as cocoballerina feel that that they have cheated the system in some way because she had no boobs and got them done on the nhs. Well good on her, and I find it a shame that this thread has got so personal when it seemed to start so respectful.

and incidentally dont even go there on this fertility issue - go onto fertility friends website and say your piece there, Im sure they will love it!!!!!!!!!!!

,Maybe if people stopped treating the NHS like a cosmetic surgery clinic, people like Cookie wouldn't have to pay for her life saving medication, we'd be able to afford more nurses and doctors and we could provide patients with better care and treatment'


I dont think that cosmetic surgury on the NHS is the reason that cookie has to pay for her life saving drugs or that if cosmetic surgury on the NHS was stopped on the NHS then we could afford new doctors or nurses............Its just a floored system thats not working & the goverment messed up & got us into dept.

I have to pay for my inhalers which cost me a fortune & with out them I could die but i would never begrudge some one who has a genuwine claim to having deformed breasts & wants them corrected on the NHS & would never feel bitter about it as i have been in there shoes

What i do think is wrong is when you get girls who have small boobs & get a nhs boob job.......I dont class having small boobs alone a good reason for the nhs to pay but someone like coco-ballarina, me or Nads who had no breast tissue then i guess id class that a a defect then i think it should be done.

If there were other ways like for instance being over weight you can get help to loss weight so there is no need to have any for of weight loss surgury in my opinion on the NHS ( unless there is a underlying medical reason) but if you never devloped breasts then thats not normal & its something you can change unless you have surgury......Its the only option.

x

How is this thread no longer nice? Like everyone Marie is voicing her opinion it's not getting personal. She hasn't personally attacked anyone.
People shouldn't expect to get what they want from the NHS when they want it just because they have paid their taxes, that's a fair point.

I believe some people should get ba on NHS but as has been said before there are people who abuse the system which is objectionable. x

lucyt wrote:How is this thread no longer nice? Like everyone Marie is voicing her opinion it's not getting personal. She hasn't personally attacked anyone.

Completely agree, i dont see how this thread has turned 'not so nice'? Everyone is just stating how they feel about it, no one is making anyone feel bad intentially. It's a contrversial topic, like it says in the title, so if someone doesn't like the thread, simply don't open it.

I was going to say how proud i am that everyone is having their say without getting nasty, like other forums :good:

Agree too - in my opinion this thread is still very much on track and very respectful :thumbs:

There has to be some way of making the system foolproof - it can't be right that a doctor in one healthcare trust can look at a woman with small breasts (but still some tissue there) and say "yes she should be entitled" and in another area where the budget is tighter, a woman with no breast tissue at all could be refused.

I also agree with Marie regarding people feeling they are "entitled" just because they pay their taxes and N.I - this is not a positive way to look at things. I'm pregnant at the moment and I love the fact that in this country, all my antenatal care is "free" (well, it is at point of contact but I know that my taxes and other people's taxes pay for this service). I would never dream of saying only women who pay tax and N.I. should be entitled to this service as it's something every woman needs when pregnant. By having this attitude of thinking you are "entitled" to use the NHS how you want just because you pay, it's basically saying that people who are unable to pay taxes don't deserve access to the system!

The NHS is an amazing thing and I feel so lucky to live in a country that has universal healthcare available to everyone, that's the way it should stay.

Thank you Lucy and Nads.

DimpleDee, just because you do not agree with my opinion doesn't mean that it's not nice does it?

I think you telling me "not to even go there with fertility issues try going onto fertility friends and saying that" isn't very nice either! You brought the fertility subject up, I said what I thought about it. There is no need to get personal or nasty about it DimpleDee.

Talking about having lipo on the NHS isn't extreme. It's exactly the same as someone else wanting a boob job on the NHS!

I'm not happy with my hips and upper thighs. I think I'm bottom heavy. I feel uncomfortable in a bikini, I can't wear certain clothes etc etc how is that any different to a woman not doing any of the above because of small breasts? I exercise and eat healthily and they are still the same. How is that different to an overweight person wanting a gastric band after they say they've tried diets and exercise?
And yes, extremely overweight people need a gastric band as they are likely to severely affect their health with their weight. What about the psychological effects that Coco Ballerina mentioned?

No one is making Coco feel bad because she got her op on the NHS. People are expressing their opinions. That is your problem if you cannot accept the opinions of others.

Crystal I was saying that if the NHS cut out things that aren't completely necessary, like some cosmetic procedures, then there would be more money so that people did not have to pay for their prescriptions. I don't see why anyone who has to take lifelong medication should have to pay for it. Your asthma inhalers included.

I do not expect anything on the nhs because I pay my taxes I suppose the point I was trying to make is, I would not feel guilty about it, and neither should anyone else. Do you feel guilty because for example you get free contraceptives to stop you falling pregnant. No probably not. Its still the nhs resources. The reason I said the thread was not nice was because when you talk generally with opinions that is fine but when you talk about peoples comments with such opinionated words such as :
' See this is the problem. People think they are entitled to whateverprocedures they want on the NHS because "they pay their taxes".TheNHS is there for essential and emergency treatment. It is not there togive people free boob jobs, nose jobs, gastric bands, fertilitytreatment etc. '
My point is I believe this to be a 'support website' to help us ladies help and advise' each other but when people come and say such things when there is quite obviously people on this site who do get them free on the nhs ( i am not one of them nor have I enquired) I do feel for them. I for one am sorry that I even mentioned it, 'paying my taxes' being a figure of speech that I am not a sponger, have worked for everything Ive got so if I need something on the nhs then so be it. I am not talking about everything and anything - going back to my original point which I said , Had I known that getting inverted nipples fixed on the nhs was even an option then I would have asked. The nhs is stretched - we know that and if someone has a deformity (which is how this part of the thread got started) I simply mean they should be able to contact the nhs about it whatever that may be.
Pay my taxes, Phew didnt realise how much that figure of speech on my part would offend.......... so from me to you ......................sorry!!!

dimpledee wrote:so if I would have know I would have tried to get my nipples fixed FREE on the nhs. Free yes but so what, I dont smoke, I dont drink, Ive been off twice in fifteen years with flu, always go to work and my husband is a higher rate tax payer.

I think that is what you said DimpleDee, that you are entitled to it as you pay your taxes. Maybe I got that bit wrong?

Anyway, no one is making anyone feel bad. I am entitled to express my opinion and obviously you have taken it personally. I think because I mentioned fertility treatment, that seems to have started your personal attack on my reply.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm glad that the girls who know me on here know that I was merely expressing my views and have allowed me to do that without jumping on me.

Oh and contraceptives are medication, not a cosmetic procedure which is what I was objecting to. Quite a different argument I think you'll agree.

Plus contraceptive pills cost pennies compared to surgical procedures and FYI I'm not on the pill!

I agree that it is awful that people are missing out on 'live saving' treatments, however it is not the people who are having plastic surgery on the NHS that are causing this. Each speciality is given a certain amount of money according to what the government deem it needs and then they allocate their funds accordingly.

I have Hypomastia on my left breast (less than an a cup) where as I have a tubular D cup breast on the right. I believe I DO suffer from a disease. I've tried really really hard for the past 6 years( since I was 14....and realised things wern't going to even out and I'd always look a state) to try and accept my breasts but I simply just can't. I really thought that I'd come to terms with it eventually but it's just never happened, and I honestly don't believe thats my fault. It affects me every single day, to the point when sometimes I just don't want to leave the house cause I don't want anyone to see me. Im already really angry at myself that I can't accept them and that they cause so much upset for me and I can't learn to live with them.....people telling me that I should, or that I shouldn't be asking the NHS for help, just makes it a whole lot worse.

I can't afford a BA right now as im a student...but I really can't wait 6 more years either until I graduate before I can even think about saving for one. The only way I could would be to drop out of medical school.....and I just can't bring myself to do that, being a doctor is my dream and I don't see why I should forsake this to pay for something which I was born with and Isn't my fault. I dont see the difference between telling a lady who has assymetry through surgery that they will have to wait 10yrs for their reconstruction and telling me, who has had assymetry my whole life, that I should have to wait 10 years.......we both have the same deformity and we both need the same operation so Im afraid I cant differentiate there. (Also..medical student hat on....mastecomies are becoming rarer and rarer as surgcial techniques improve, it's now a lot more common for a woman to recive a lumpectomy which causes minimal scarring than a full mastectomy).
I completely understand that that woman will have gone through hell and back with her treatment and completely admire her for that, but believe me I am experincing the same pain thorugh my assymetry as any woman who has aquired assymetry because of surgery.

Sorry If that seems really spoilt and me, me, me. But I think it's important that poeple understand how being unhappy with your breasts can massivley affect your mental state, It's not about wanting 'bigger boobs', just normal boobs please!

That's not spoilt of you at all Louise. I think the majority of ladies on here agree that women born with a condition should have it treated like a lady having a masectomy. I think the issue is with people who simply want bigger boobs and think that they are entitled to it on the NHS.

And you definitley shouldn't drop out of medical school. Congrats!

coco_ballerina wrote:Hi Nads. I’m amazed that you don’t consider not having ANY breast tissue, as a woman, to be a severe deformity. As I said in my post, if I had even developed small breasts I would’ve been over the moon but having nothing at all made me feel like I should join the circus.

At 18 years old I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, body dysmorphia, bulimia and depression, with not developing breasts being the core reason. It affected me profoundly in every area of my life so although I was physically a ‘healthy individual’ it had completely shattered my life to the point where I was almost unable to leave the house, so being operated on through the NHS really was a lifeline for me and has completely changed my quality of life.

In my eyes there’s an enormous distinction between having small breasts, which is normal, and having no breasts, which is not. And the impact of having no breasts will often be a lot more than how you look physically, which is why I fully support the availability of correction surgery through the NHS.

I wouldnt have thought being diagnosed with body dysmorphia they would allow you to have cosmetic surgery. Dont know much about the illness but i always thought that surgery was the last thing they would provide as a cure. :dunno: Sorry to hear you went through all that though x

MarieMc85 wrote:That's not spoilt of you at all Louise. I think the majority of ladies on here agree that women born with a condition should have it treated like a lady having a masectomy. I think the issue is with people who simply want bigger boobs and think that they are entitled to it on the NHS.

And you definitley shouldn't drop out of medical school. Congrats!

These people who just want bigger boobs will almost definatley be screened out though. From my exprerince the whole screening process with the PCT has been pretty rigourus.
Its the girls and women who feel abnormal for some reason beacuse of their breasts, wether they be too small, uneven, saggy or whatever that will recieve the treatment and I believe should continue to recieve treatment. Theres a big difference between wanting your breasts to be bigger and feeling like your breasts are abnormal in some way and so wanting surgery to fix this. Hope that makes sense!

MarieMc85 wrote:Oh and contraceptives are medication, not a cosmetic procedure which is what I was objecting to. Quite a different argument I think you'll agree.

Plus contraceptive pills cost pennies compared to surgical procedures and FYI I'm not on the pill!

I agree with this too, without contraception the population would keep increasing and increasing especially as sex is more socially acceptable now there would be babies left right and centre, which would also probably have a bigger nock on effect on the governments resources than providing contraception so people can decide when they are ready for babies xx

MarieMc85 wrote:I'm not happy with my hips and upper thighs. I think I'm bottom heavy. I feel uncomfortable in a bikini, I can't wear certain clothes etc etc how is that any different to a woman not doing any of the above because of small breasts?

Girl, you have an amazing figure! you should feel proud with your curves, they're enviable (FB spy here lol) :flowers: wanna swap for my skinny chicken legs? :heehee:

x

littlewisher wrote:
I wouldnt have thought being diagnosed with body dysmorphia they would allow you to have cosmetic surgery. Dont know much about the illness but i always thought that surgery was the last thing they would provide as a cure. :dunno: Sorry to hear you went through all that though x

Thanks Littlewisher. I did have to see a psychologist before I had the surgery. We did talk about my problems but I believe she had seen pictures of how I look and knew that it wasn’t a ‘perceived flaw,’ (as is often the case with body dysmorphia) but that I just hadn’t developed at all. She was very understanding and although I had other problems I think she knew these would improve once I had the surgery, and she was right.

It seems that most people here agree that it's ok to seek NHS treatment for deformed breasts (absent breast, tubular breasts, severe asymmetry) and reconstructive purposes, which I believe are the criteria for being eligible for a BA on the NHS, but has anyone actually heard of someone getting a BA just for being small breasted? This seems to be what people are raising objections to, but I’ve never actually heard of anyone receiving a breast enlargement on the NHS who was ‘normal’ to begin with?

I've known people get BAs for being small breasted, yes, on forums and in real life for reasons like yours CB - depression, BDD etc (though if they really had those things is another matter). But it doesn't happen that often. Like someone else said on this thread, they aren't just handed out, which is good

x

Hey coco_ballerina
I just noticed your surgery details and am shocked!!! You increased your implant size by 220cc and only went up one cup size?? That's mad!!
xx