A woman who was teased as a youngster for her “pancake" chest is now crowdfunding to have her bosom reduced after developing 40HH breasts “from nowhere" at 16, which were cruelly dubbed “Helen's melons."
Plagued with health problems, including back pain and a hump on the back of her neck because of their weight, pharmaceutical assistant Helen Christie, 26, also suffers with depression and social anxiety, as her ample chest makes her so self-conscious.
Now Helen, of Brighton, East Sussex, England, who has been dating her partner Verity Oxford, 37, who doesn't work for medical reasons, for two years, says she is desperate to raise the £3,000 (~$3,870) she needs to have them reduced to a size B or C cup, adding: “I've suffered with poor self-confidence since I was 15 as a result of the hefty size of my breasts."
She continued: “I struggle with social anxiety and am never comfortable taking my clothes off, not even in front of my partner.
“I feel as though I've been cursed with being so heavily endowed. Whereas some women wish they could trade places and have big boobs, I would give anything to have no boobs at all."
Feeling she was not taken seriously when she told a doctor she wanted a breast reduction, Helen, who is now looking to have private surgery in Prague, in the Czech Republic, told how “overnight" she went from being teased at school for being flat-chested, to being scorned when she suddenly became a D cup – and kept on growing.
She said: “I was around 16 when I suddenly grew to a C or D cup and people started commenting, saying things like, 'she's grown.'
“As my breasts grew, they would call them 'Helen's melons.' People would comment on my 'jugs' and shout 'nice t*ts' in the street.
“From the age of 16 I got cat calls and it made me feel so self-conscious. It was really creepy getting that kind of attention from men, who were often a lot older than me."
She continued: “I just hated the attention and hated feeling like I'd been put on the spot."
Over the next 10 years, Helen said her breasts continued to grow until they reached a size 40HH, meaning she has to wear size 18 to 20 T-shirt, or a man's XXXL, while her bottom half is only a size 16.
“I don't wear low cut tops anymore, because my breasts fall out of them, so I stick to baggy T-shirts which make me look even bigger," she said.
Helen added: “I think I overcompensate by wearing a lot of eyeliner to try and make people look at my face rather than my chest."
Having such an ample bosom also means Helen suffers with insomnia, as she struggles to find a comfortable position to sleep in.
She explained: “I always struggle to fall asleep and have to adjust my breasts into a position so that I'm breathing clearly and don't feel like I'm up to my neck in excess breast tissue."
“I usually lie on my side with my arm supporting one breast and my other arm in between them to support the other," Helen said.
“If I lie on my back I can't breathe properly.
“I get a really sore rash underneath my breasts and around my armpit, too, because it gets so sweaty in the crevices."
Helen explained: “I have a curvature and a hump on the back of my neck from them pulling forwards and my head looks like it's tilted. My posture is really bad.
“There's a constant dull ache in my back and the back of my neck and I get shooting pains up my arm, because of the position I sleep in.
“My shoulders have indents in them from where the bra straps dig in."
Helen also finds it difficult to buy bras big enough for her bust and when she does find them, they tend to be very expensive.
“I try to wear compression bras, in a bid to reduce my size but it's a real struggle to find something that is within my budget. I can find bras for about £20 (~$26), but I have to change them every couple of months, because the straps snap, as my breasts are so heavy," she said.
“I can't go jogging or running because there are no sports bras that will stop them from jiggling up and down."
She explained: “If I lose weight they just start to sag and there is a lot of excess skin.
“I can't let them hang freely because they hurt, which has always been a problem when I'm trying to be intimate with a partner.
“My confidence is so low that I never take my top off, I've never felt like I can get fully undressed in front of someone."
She added: “I've been with my girlfriend for two years now and she understands what I'm going through. All she wants is for me to be out of this kind of pain," she added.
When she visited a GP a year ago, feeling at an all-time low, she was examined and prescribed anti-depressants.
“It took a lot of courage for me to go to the doctor. He examined my back and I explained about how it had affected my mental health and made me feel depressed," she said.
“I explained that I had such low confidence and thought there was a link between my depression and my breasts," said Helen.
“I asked to be put in touch with a specialist but nothing happened. The whole experience put me off. I felt like they didn't understand and that there was no hope of me getting a reduction on the NHS."
Feeling dejected, Helen began searching for a private alternative.
She said: “The cheapest place I could find to have the operation was in Prague for £3,000. I've heard it can cost up to £12,000(~$15,500) to have it done privately in the UK, which I just can't afford."
According to its website, the availability of breast reduction surgery on the NHS varies, depending on the eligibility criteria decided by the local clinical commissioning group (CCG).
Some CCGs do not fund breast reduction surgery at all. Others will fund it selectively if someone fulfills certain criteria, such as experiencing backache, shoulder or neck pain, skin irritation, rashes and skin infections under the breasts, grooves on the shoulders from bra straps, psychological distress, such as low self-esteem or depression and an inability to exercise or play sport.
If a GP thinks someone is eligible they can refer them to a breast or plastic surgeon for an assessment.
Helen added: “I do wonder if I was a man and had two gigantic tumors attached to my chest constricting my breathing whether I'd be eligible for surgery.
“Surgery would change everything for me. I would just be free. I would be able to live a normal life. To be able to stretch my arms back without the weight of my breasts holding me back would mean so much."
Helen added: “You read about people who are able to have breast enhancement on the NHS to help boost their confidence, but it's really disheartening that it's so seldom available for people who need them reduced in size.
“I do think that people might look at the fact I'm crowdfunding and think there are more worthy causes out there but I just don't know where else to turn."
To donate visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helenscrowdfunding
