Credit: SWNS
A woman who was fat-shamed by cruel bullies for having "tree trunk legs" has spent £20,000 on surgery -after realising she had the same condition as a Love Island star.
Emma Martin, 23, said her legs had always been chunky and out of proportion to the rest of her body no matter what she ate or how much she exercised.
The trainee solicitor claims she was even told by her GP to "just lose weight" and "stop eating crisps and cake" when she tried to raise her concerns.
It wasn't until she heard Love Island contestant Shaughna Phillips talking about Lipoedema that she realised her condition might be medical.
A woman who was fat-shamed by cruel bullies for having "tree trunk legs" has spent £20,000 on surgery -after realising she had the same condition as a Love Island star.
Emma Martin, 23, said her legs had always been chunky and out of proportion to the rest of her body no matter what she ate or how much she exercised.
The trainee solicitor claims she was even told by her GP to "just lose weight" and "stop eating crisps and cake" when she tried to raise her concerns.
It wasn't until she heard Love Island contestant Shaughna Phillips talking about Lipoedema that she realised her condition might be medical.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I had the personal trainer for about three years, but despite going to the gym and the healthy eating, my legs remained the biggest part of me.
00:12My name's Emma, I'm 23 years old and last year I was diagnosed with stage 1 lipedema.
00:17At school I think I always noticed that my legs were larger than the other girls, I just assumed that was where I held my weight.
00:36After finishing school I went to the GP for another reason and they told me that I should watch what I was eating and try to lose a bit of weight.
00:43She actually said that I should stop eating cake and crisps.
00:47So I got a personal trainer to try and help me lose the weight, obviously I thought it was something that I was doing wrong.
00:54I had the personal trainer for about three years, but despite going to the gym and the healthy eating, my legs remained the biggest part of me.
01:01I saw Shauna Phillips' tweet about the fact that she had surgery on her legs and that it was life changing for her.
01:07I wondered what condition she had with her legs because I thought they looked the exact same as mine and I'd never seen anybody else really with that.
01:14And that's what led me to researching lipedema and ultimately my surgery in Madrid.
01:31Before the surgery I wasn't really able to fit into everyday jeans or even things like ankle boots and heels I couldn't really wear without them being uncomfortable.
01:40So that obviously really affected the way I felt about myself as well and not being able to wear everything that perhaps I wanted to.
01:48Since having it done I've put on a pair of heels and the difference is incredible.
01:52My legs feel so much lighter and I've been back to the gym a couple of times and the exercises that I couldn't do before I can now do easily.
01:58I don't have any aches in my joints like I did before.
02:07I made one TikTok to basically just say don't take no for an answer because lipedema doesn't seem to be recognised in England like it does everywhere else.
02:16And even since going to my GP since receiving the diagnosis they're rather dismissive of it, they don't really tend to acknowledge it.
02:29So there isn't much support for lipedema on the NHS.
02:33I think once you get to stage 4, so fairly immobile, wheelchair bound, that type of thing, the NHS will likely intervene.
02:40But until that point there isn't an option for surgery on the NHS.
02:44So you do have to go privately.