With access to celebrity-endorsed weight loss and body altering ‘cheats’ at an all time high, it’s perhaps no surprise that women around the world are desperate to modify their silhouettes. The country China has seen perhaps one of the most alarming, with the recent “ A4 waist challenge”. Women are taking photos of themselves holding an A4 piece of paper in front of their bodies to show that their waists are narrow enough to fit behind it. While the A4waist will hopefully be just a fleeting obsession, waist training is sadly showing little sign of disappearing.

Below are Things Waist Training Can Do Your Body

 Waist Training Affects Breathing

Coupled with the fact that it puts pressure on your stomach, your entire internal network is being pushed to fit the shape of the cincher. By restricting your diaphragm, you’re reducing the amount of oxygen you can take it. This can leave you feeling short of breath, light headedness and even cause you to faint.

Waist Training Causes Skin Irritation

One of the most common effects of waist training is skin irritation. Having something so tightly fastened to your skin for a prolonged amount of time will cause chafing that can cause serious discomfort. You may think a rash is a cheap price to pay for the perfect hourglass figure, but you may not feel the same way if it leads to infection and your shape is the same as it always was.

Acid Reflux Can Be Caused By Waist Training

Anyone who experience acid reflux will appreciate the intense pain it can cause. By compressing your mid-section, the trainer is also pressing on your stomach up higher increasing your chance of heartburn and indigestion. Not only can it cause pain, but recurring acid reflux can cause long-term damage by eroding the walls of the esophagus.

Waist Training Causes Numbness

Not only will your blood flow be limited by the compression, your nerves may also be affected. This could cause you to experience pins and needles or numbness in your legs.

 Waist Training Also Bruises The Body

Unlike traditional corsets, modern waist trainers don’t have the same strength to  affect the shape of your bones. This will mean you will be left with bone bruises as the trainer compresses your body. You many not think this sounds that bad but bone bruises are significantly more painful and long lasting than regular bruises. With social media users getting younger and younger, there is a far greater risk to children whose bones have not formed fully as cinchers could actually affect the development of their bone structure.