Is Wearing a Waist Trainer Dangerous?

So there's this new craze for a quick fix "hour-glass" figures and the
waist trainer, corset or shaper now seems to be the "in thing"...

But do these corsets actually do what the manufacturers say they do
and are there any side effects?

Can all women achieve the same body shape by wearing these waist
trainers? Can our body shapes be altered simply by a stretch or rigid
under garment? Because the impression we get is that this shapewear
moulds your body into that "figure 8" if you can wear it for certain
number of hours a day.

According to a clinical professor in Obs & Gynae, Mary Jane Minkin
M.D, these waist cinchers can make it difficult to breathe (because
of their tightness) and even cause rib bruising or damage.

A New York based plastic surgeon, Andrew Miller M.D, has also stated
the obvious; waist trainers don't have any effect on your "fat
anatomy", the moment you remove them, you are back to your normal
waist size.

So they just compress fat not burn it... and make you sweat...

Wearing waist trainers for a few hours may not be harmful but wearing
them for long periods like weeks or months at a time could be
dangerous...you could experience acid reflux and have a hard time
digesting food because of the shapers' pressure on your stomach.

Dr Galyna also warns that these shapewear can affect the neutral
positions of the organs; pushing the upper organs upwards and the
lower organs downwards and says the quality of your breathing can be
affected. (So please do not exercise with waist trainers!)

So the moral of the story is: if you decide to get a waist trainer let
it be for ceremonial purposes or occasional use rather than a
"consistent beauty regimen"...

(photo-credit: philly.com)