A MODEL believes her breast implants were the cause of her developing a range of dehabilitating illnesses.

Karissa Pukas, 27, underwent a breast augmentation in 2014 but had them removed this year, due to a range of complications.

Karissa, who lives in Canada, claims she developed poor vision, adult acne, chronic pain, night sweats, hair loss, digestive issues and poor body odour after having her implants put in.

In a YouTube video uploaded to her channel, Karissa explains in detail the range of her symptoms.

She said in a flashback video: “I’ve had on and off blurry vision and I feel like I’m an old woman. I have hip pain, back pain and digestive issues. I don’t understand why I feel so old and debilitated at 26 years old.

“All of these things made me feel like I was living in a 90-year-old’s body.

“Over and over I was being told by professionals that I’m doing the right thing and my tests were coming back normal, but I was still sick.”

She soon developed bad body odour and other terrible symptoms.

Karissa said: “I started to develop a really nasty body odour and I’m not talking BO, I’m talking a metallic, acidic, stink and I couldn’t understand why.

“It was predominantly coming out of my left side and I would full blown go into the shower, scrub myself until I was almost raw and spray on deodorant.

“I started getting really bad night sweats as well, to the point where I would be soaking the bed.

“I would get up in the middle of the night and put a towel down over the top of the bed to just go back to sleep because I was soaking wet and shivering.

“I was having things like sternum pain, adrenal fatigue, brain fog, my pee started smelling weird, I was having vertigo, I was having hair loss and I started having adult acne.

“I was dealing with things like my gut health and having chronic diarrhoea every single day, having joint pain and it being so unexplained.”

She since learned that her body’s autoimmune system was reacting to a foreign object in her body — the implants — and was trying to protect itself.

Karissa added: “Your body doesn’t recognise that as a part of itself so it begins to attack not only the implant but the capsule itself. Your body is consistently trying to fight itself.’ had absolutely no idea it was all connected.”

She has since decided to remove her implants.

Karissa believes her implants were causing what has been coined “breast implant illness” or Bii.

While Bii isn't recognised as a scientifically proven illness, Karissa has joined the global movement to warn women about the dangers of implants.

She concluded: “I didn’t think that that I would ever be taking my implants out, I never considered it but the more research I’ve done and the more people that I’ve spoken to about this, all signs are pointing to me getting them out so that is what I’m doing.

“I hope by sharing my journey with you it causes you to at least think about the implications of what you’re doing because when I was 22 I didn’t ever expect to be doing this.”

In a statement to news.com.au, Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery president Dr Ron Bezic said there was no proof that Bii symptoms are related to breast implants.

Dr Bezic said: “Long-term studies have shown that symptoms such as chronic fatigue, eczema, migraines, food intolerances, depression and allergies are no more likely in individuals with breast implants, than those without implants.

“It has been established that women with such symptoms who do have breast implants, and have them removed, are no more likely to get better than those who keep their implants.

“Because these symptoms are unfortunately quite common and because many more women now have breast implants, there will inevitably be more women with implants who have the symptoms but this does not mean that implants are the cause.

“Anecdote is no substitute for scientific evidence. All patients with these symptoms are vulnerable and they should ensure that information given to them is based on proper evidence so they are not misled by individuals who may have ulterior motives, financial or otherwise.”