A new trend popular with celebrities has women strapping on a corset-like device called a waist trainer.
The goal is a slimmed down waist and an hour glass figure, but an important question many are asking: is it safe?
Several stars, including Kim Kardashian, have used the waist trainers and say they have seen results. Her advocacy is inspiring many everyday people to try it.
“It gives me the curve. This is what I want,” said a woman we talked with who wanted to remain anonymous.
She hopes to lose inches and belly fat.
Before squeezing into the tight, thick-latex waist trainer, she puts on a layer of plastic wrap, to help her sweat more. She struggles to pull it together and hook the clasps. She wears it for only a few hours a day, but some women have taken to wearing it all day, hoping to expedite results.
The waist trainer concept certainly isn’t new.
In fact, it goes back to Victorian times, when tight corsets gave women of that day the illusion of tiny waists and an hour glass figure. Health experts, however, are concerned some women might be taking this too far.
“It’s another gimmick, in my opinion,” says advanced G.I. surgeon Dr. Sharona Ross with Florida Hospital Tampa. “It does make you maybe sweat more, but this is water weight. You’re not losing any fat.”
Even worse, extreme pressure all day over an extended period of time can lead to health problems.
“You have the contents of the abdomen being pushed into the chest, not only taking space from the lungs and the heart, but also pushing the stomach actually into the chest,” Dr. Ross says.
This can cause breathing difficulty, fainting, acid reflux, chronic constipation, even a hiatal hernia.
And she says wearing a waist trainer over long periods of time can also cause your stomach and back muscles to weaken, because the corset is doing all the work to hold your body up.
This is, according to Dr. Ross, “A lot of risk, for very little benefit.”
“If you want to wear it on Friday night to a party, great, I have no problem with that,” she says, “but when you wear it every day for hours, that’s when you start to see potential damage.”
As much as people would love an easy fix, there’s no scientific evidence your waist can be trained. Better to skip the fads and do it the right way: diet and exercise.