Gigantomastia is a rare condition where a woman’s breasts grow abnormally large, causing pain, difficulty moving, and other health problems.
Mary remembers having normal breasts as a child. They developed as expected in her early teens, but they did not stop growing. What was always a natural part of her femininity and pride soon became a burden.
By her 20s, she could no longer stand for long without her back aching. She stopped playing sports. Sleep became a complicated process of propping herself up with pillows to ease the weight on her chest.
“It has taken a significant toll on my mental health, contributing to persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety and low self-worth, and also declining my overall quality of life,” she told researchers.
Mary is one of 30 women who shared their experiences in the first Kenyan study on gigantomastia, published in June in the African Journal of Emerging Issues.
Gigantomastia is a rare condition where a woman’s breasts grow abnormally large, causing pain, difficulty moving, and other health problems.
The research conducted by Tangaza University’s Lucinda Gitura and colleagues Dr Sahaya Selvam and Dr Phyllis Muraya, explored how this rare condition affects women’s physical, psychological, and social well-being, and why it deserves urgent public health attention.
The authors said that tackling gigantomastia will require far more than medical intervention. They call for public awareness campaigns to educate communities and reduce stigma, for healthcare providers to be trained on the psychological and social dimensions of the condition, and for the establishment of specialised counselling services.
They also urged policymakers to ensure that surgical and supportive treatments are covered by the Social Health Authority.
Their study reveals that gigantomastia’s harm comes from a combination of physical pain, emotional strain, and social judgment.
All participants described heavy breasts that altered posture, restricted movement, and caused constant pain.
For Mary, the backaches grew so severe that they spread to her legs. Another woman gave a similar experience: “I was diagnosed with back pain, which later migrated and affected my right leg, making it so painful and at times I experienced numbness.”
Physical activity became difficult, with many avoiding running, exercise, or even walking long distances due to exhaustion and breathing difficulties. Simple acts like finding a bra became costly challenges, with one participant reporting having spent nearly Sh100,000 a year to import supportive undergarments.
The study says many women said they felt disproportionate, with the upper body appearing much larger than the lower, leading to low self-esteem.
Some were so overwhelmed by their appearance that they imagined extreme measures to be rid of their breasts. “I remember there was a time I even said I would want to have cancer, and they cut off my breasts because I did not like them,” one participant confessed.
Rumours were rife, often tied to damaging moral assumptions. One participant recalled being told, “You have aborted, that's why your boobs are like that, she is always with men, and men are always touching her.”
There is no verified, population-based prevalence data for gigantomastia in Kenya. Dr Were Onyino, a plastic surgery resident at the University of Nairobi, was recently quoted as saying that “one in 10 women could be suffering from the condition”. But this is an informal clinical estimate not grounded in population-based research.
Globally, gestational gigantomastia (which occurs during pregnancy) is understood to be rare, with an incidence ranging from about one in 28,000 to one in 100,000 pregnancies. Juvenile cases (those arising outside pregnancy) are even less common.
While the exact cause of gigantomastia is unknown, researchers suspect heightened hormonal sensitivity to estrogen, progesterone, or prolactin.
Lead author Lucinda Gitura said: “The absence of awareness and specialised support services in Kenya… exacerbates the mental health impact.”
The Tangaza research team used a qualitative approach grounded in phenomenology to capture women’s lived experiences. They recruited 30 women in Nairobi County aged 18–35 through snowball sampling. Each was interviewed virtually for up to 30 minutes.
The study is titled “Exploration of Physical, Psychologicaland Social Effects of Gigantomastia on the Mental Health of Women In NairobiCounty, Kenya.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has no specific treatment guidelines for the condition.
But globally, gigantomastia is most effectively managed through breast reduction surgery. In rare pregnancy-related cases, medical management such as bromocriptine may be attempted first, though surgery often becomes necessary if symptoms worsen or do not regress.
The authors said solutions must be holistic, addressing the physical, psychological, and societal burdens together.
They also said there is no “right” breast size because size and weight vary widely among women depending on body, genetics, and age.
A healthy breast weight is simply one that does not cause pain, discomfort, or health problems for the woman, they said.
