Lifestyle Beauty & Style Cosmetic Procedures Kayla Lochte Feeling 'Emotional' After Breast Implant Removal: 'Hard to See Your Boobs Sliced Up' The model and wife of swimmer Ryan Lochte said she’s dealing with “a lot of conflicted feelings” about getting her implants removed and why she got them in the first place By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta is the Senior Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 15, 2021 02:15PM EDT As Kayla Lochte deals with the slow recovery from breast explant surgery, she's feeling "emotional" about the changes to her body. The former Playboy model and wife of Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte had her breast implants removed on Wednesday after dealing with months of health problems that doctors believe were caused by BII, or Breast Implant Illness. The 29-year-old said she immediately started feeling better after her implants — which doctors discovered were deflated and likely leaking into her body — came out. But on days four and five of recovery, Lochte started feeling down. She had her surgical drains — which are attached at the incision to pull out bodily fluids that build up from the surgery —removed on Sunday, and said that it was oddly "painful." 12 Stars Who Regretted Getting Breast Implants "And I think a lot of people don't usually have pain with it," she said. "My left [breast] was fine, and my right is just super sensitive and tender, so I started taking the antibiotics." Kayla Lochte. Kayla Lochte/Instagram On Monday, Lochte said she was struggling with her recovery. "I've been a little discouraged because I cannot get all my tape off my incisions because it's just painful and it's also kind of really hard to see just your boobs sliced up everywhere," she said on her Instagram Story, as she sat outside in the sun, wrapped up in bandages. The mom to daughter Liv Rae, 1, and son Caiden Zane, 3, said she's having trouble with the "conflicted" emotions around losing her implants, while also questioning why she felt the need to get them in the first place. "I've been a little emotional today, if I'm being honest, which I've heard is actually pretty normal," she said. "You just are going through a lot of conflicted feelings, and I can't really explain the feelings, because there's a bunch of different feelings around your boobs, I guess, as women, and why we even get implants in the first place." "There's just so many feelings going around my head that are making me kind of emotional today," she continued, adding that she's working on "taking it easy." Lochte said Thursday that she saw noticeable changes as soon as she had her implants removed, from her skin clearing up to sleeping better to seeing the lymph node in her neck go down. FDA Recommends Its Most Serious Warning Label for Breast Implants "It's insanity, how much it was affecting me and how sick they were making me," she said. Lochte encouraged any of her followers who are dealing with similar issues to look into breast explant surgery. "If you're having any of these symptoms please just look into it, and, I don't know, consider it, because how much better you can feel," she said.