Hailey Bieber used her Instagram to shed light on something many suffer from: ovarian cysts. The model revealed that she currently has an apple-sized one and detailed the ways it is affecting her body while simultaneously shutting down pregnancy rumors.
“I have a cyst on my ovary the size of an apple. I don’t have endometriosis or PCOS, but I have gotten an ovarian cyst a few times, and it’s never fun.” She then put text over her stomach, writing, “not a baby.”
She went on to detail her symptoms: “It’s painful and achey and makes me feel nauseous and bloated and crampy and emotional. Anyways… I’m sure a lot of you can overly relate and understand. We got this. ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻”
As Mayo Clinic points out, ovarian cysts, or sacs typically filled with fluid in an ovary or on its surface, are common and typically harmless. “Most cysts go away without treatment within a few months,” the site writes, adding they’re usually symptom-less.
But when they aren’t—and particularly if they are causing severe pain (especially with fever and vomiting) or signs of shock, it’s essential to get immediate medical help. And generally, it’s good to be in conversation with your doctor if cysts are an issue. Bieber’s post only raises visibility around something so many silently go through.
This isn’t Bieber’s first time posting about her health this year. The model shared her experience having a heart procedure earlier this year to close a gap in her heart after she suffered a mini stroke in March caused by a blood clot.
In a video, she discussed how birth control may have contributed to what happened. “I had just recently started birth control pills, which I should’ve never been on because I am someone who suffers from migraines anyway, and I just did not talk to my doctor about this, so, ladies, if you suffer from bad migraines, and you plan on being on birth control pills, make sure you tell your doctor, because having a stroke is a potential side effect from birth control pills,” she said.
She also explained that doctors, while testing her, discovered she had a “grade 5 PFO [potent foramen ovale, a hole in the heart that didn’t close the way it should have at birth], which is the highest grade that you can have.”
Bieber had a PFO closure done, “which is where they go through the femoral vein in your groin and they travel up to the heart and they put this small little button that buttons closed the flap in the heart and eventually, the heart tissue grows back over the closure device and that’s it. And you have it forever and you continue on with normal life.” The procedure went “really smoothly. I’m recovering really well, really fast. I feel great,” she shared.
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
