Danica Patrick Opens Up About Health Scare From Breast Implants

Danica Patrick.Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Danica Patrick is opening up about a health battle she’s faced for the past five years due to breast implants. And the SI Swimsuit model is sharing her story in hopes that it will help other women who might be secretly struggling.

The former IndyCar and NASCAR driver revealed in this week’s issue of People magazine that she started experiencing strange physical symptoms in 2017, three years after getting breast implants. At first, the symptoms were relatively nondescript. Then, her energy levels changed; she was more fatigued, gained weight and had some hair loss. “I thought maybe my hormones were off,” said Patrick.

About a year later, the symptoms worsened, and her breasts became rock hard. “For so many years, I didn’t hug people tight because I didn’t feel like pushing these little balloons into them,” she said. “Whenever I was with a guy, I could not stop thinking they knew they were fake. I went down a pretty deep rabbit hole.”

Desperate for answers, the famous driver had “every test” done. But still, she had little insight. So finally, in 2022, after seeing videos on social media about Breast Implant Illness (BII), Patrick wondered whether her implants were the problem. The condition—which includes symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, joint pain, anxiety and hair loss—can develop after getting any implant. It’s due to the inflammatory response of the foreign body.

With this knowledge, Patrick decided to get her implants removed in March. Almost instantly, she was symptom-free. “Trust your intuition,” she urged. “Get them removed, and see how you feel.”

Patrick isn’t the only SI Swimsuit model to have her implants removed due to complications. Haley Kalil previously opened up to SI Swimsuit about her battle.

“Later, complications set in,” Kalil said of her implants. “I began to get shooting pain down my arms. Then, I began to develop scar tissue around the implants. I hated them so much and finally decided to say, ‘Screw societal standards! I’m taking these out.’ I worked with an incredible reconstructive surgeon who helped recreate my bust the safest way possible. It was the best choice I ever made.”

Chrissy Teigen also had her implants removed in 2020 and posted on social media about it. “I’m getting my boobs out,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “They’ve been great to me for many years, but I’m just over it. I’d like to be able to zip a dress in my size and lay on my belly with pure comfort! No biggie!”