Shaughna Phillips has candidly shared a throwback photo of herself from when she was underweight to raise awareness of Lipoedema.

The 27 year old Love Island star posted the throwback snap, taken while she was on a Dubai holiday in 2017, and revealed how she struggled with an eating disorder.

Shaughna's snap sees her standing on a beach in the UAE while wearing a black and white string bikini and holding onto dark sunglasses.

The blonde beauty, who was diagnosed with Lipoedema after leaving Love Island, then explained to her Twitter followers: "Just found a picture of me from Dubai 2017 and it is such a clear example of what #Lipoedema looks like. How anyone can accuse sufferers of being lazy/fat is beyond me.

"It is a medical condition that 1/11 women suffer with, often in silence, often misdiagnosed."

Shaughna later added: "In this picture I was struggling with an eating disorder.

"I was underweight. I was torturing myself in the gym. Yet my legs were getting bigger and bigger.

"Lipoedema has nothing to do with being overweight. So damaging to continue treating women as if it’s their fault."

She then shared a screenshot of her tweet on her Instagram story and added in writing alongside it: "In this picture I weighed 9 stone and hand the BMI of a child.

"Knowledge is power. The sooner more doctor identify the early signs of Lipoedema, less women will have to see the disease progress to a point that is irreversible.

"Women are being confined to wheelchairs because they are unable to receive a diagnosis, and even when they receive a diagnosis, are unable to pay for surgery. This disease is hereditary, it is not self inflicted."

The Love Island star was flooded with praise from some fellow Twitter users as one said: "Thank you for sharing, because of you I approached my GP with selfdiagnosis after years of being branded fat. And the GP finally listened to me, I don’t have any treatment as I cannot afford it, but at least I know it’s not my fault. I hope one day treatment will be available".

Another added: "I got diagnosed last year after years and years of thinking it was just my body make up. On the waiting list for an operation".

"Look at your body compared to your legs. Zero idea how you went so long undiagnosed but unfortunately this is the case for a lot of women. And many medical professionals simply tell them to try losing more weight or its just how they are built," a third added.

Shaughna was diagnosed with Lipoedema shortly after leaving the Love Island villa as she received messages from fans about her legs while on the show.

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Reflecting on discovering she had the condition, Shaughna previously told OK!: "It’s only when this girl asked me about it and I thought: ‘I had no idea what that is’.

"I Googled it and I literally ticked every single symptom that they had… and looking at pictures of girls and it was such a relief to think: 'oh my God I’m not just lazy or it’s not just how I’m built I actually have a condition'."

She has since undergone liposuction to treat the condition.

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