Woman wears Shein waist-trainer to get a snatched waist. Weeks later, she’s in the ER: ‘My ribs got pushed’
Over the years, plenty of diets, devices, and routines have promised women a quick fix to getting the ideal body they’ve always wanted (often based on what’s trending at the moment).
Some look straight up torturous, like the “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge” in the mid-2010s, when teenagers were using suction to plump, and often injure, their lips.
Others may sound less alarming, such as corset-like waist trainers that promise to give you an hourglass shape. At the end of the day, it’s just a garment. How much damage could it cause?
According to one woman’s story on TikTok, a waist trainer could get you a trip to the emergency room.
In her carousel post, which got over 8.4 million views and more than 1,500 comments, creator Carly (@carlydanii) shared how it progressed to that.
How Did a Waist Trainer Send Her to the ER?
“In march of 2023 i decided i had enough of my wide ribcage so i ordered a waist trainer off of shein,” she wrote on-screen in the first photo.
Carly explained that she started wearing it immediately, and in her words, “feeling super snatched.” She says she ignored instructions.
“It’s recommended to wear it for 3-4 hr periods, but me wanting results faster, decided to wear it for 12-14 hrs straight,” she wrote.
After two weeks of wearing the waist trainer with that frequency, she decided to take a break for one day. She started feeling chest pain.
“This wasn’t uncommon, i have bad anxiety and i’ve had chest pain before and nothing has ever been wrong,” she explained. “It eventually faded after an hour, and I went about my day.”
Two days after that, Carly was home alone with just her dog. While practicing a black smoky eye look, she says the chest pain returned, this time “ten times worse.”
“I call my mom who tells me to call my dr and see if i can get in for that day,” she continued. “They have nothing, and the front desk person strongly advises me to go to urgent care.”
While in excruciating pain, she says she decided to follow the doctor’s advice and started driving to the hospital. “I am hunched over the steering wheel, sobbing and clutching my chest.”
They Decide to Call Emergency Services
Carly says she called her mom, who sent a neighbor over to help while they were rushing back home. Ultimately, the pain was so unbearable that they decided to call 911.
“I start giving them my info and explain what’s happening,” she continued. “The operator immediately tells me to start chewing aspirin because i’m having symptoms of a heart attack.”
She started panicking because heart attacks are common in her family, though she never thought it would happen to her at 20 years old.
When the emergency medical technicians arrived, she says they tried to “gaslight” her into thinking that “this is just anxiety.”
“It is not,” she wrote on-screen.
They finally got to the hospital, and the medical staff performed an EKG, ruling out a heart attack. After a few scans and blood work, they determined she was well enough to wait in the lobby.
Then the doctor had questions for her. “The dr calls me and my mom back and asked if i had been wearing or doing anything new recently,” she continued. “I tell him about the waist traigner and he sighs.
The doctor explained that because she wore the garment for long periods of time, her ribs “got pushed up into” her chest, which triggered a spasm. “WHICH MIMICKED THE PAIN OF A HEART ATTACK,” she added.
She says there were no major consequences from what happened. “Everything ended up beingg fine, i still get the pain when i wear something too tight fitting but moral of the story, don’t be stubborn like me,” she wrote. “Follow instructions.”
Are Waist Trainers Safe to Wear?
Health experts generally don’t recommend wearing waist trainers or corsets regularly in an attempt to lose weight or reduce waist or ribcage size.
According to Web MD, waist trainers won’t make you lose weight in any long-lasting way. It might make you eat less because the compression suppresses your appetite, but that’s not a sustainable or healthy way to lose weight.
Additionally, the risks are much higher. Waist trainers can negatively affect your lungs by squeezing your sternum and ribs, which can make breathing difficult. Eventually, it can also cause issues with your heart because of poor circulation.
That’s not the only negative effect. Wearing a waist trainer, especially for long periods of time, can disturb your digestive system, cause heartburn, muscle weakness, skin rashes, and more.
According to the publication, it’s not a good idea to wear these garments for more than a few hours during special events.
Commenters Share Their Own Experiences With Waist Trainers
“Waist trainers do not work, they are temporary in terms of results,” one user wrote. “A wide rib cage is ok to have just learn to accept your literal bones.”
“Waist trainer made my torso area so weak I can’t even wear tight clothes without it hurting so bad,” shared another.
“I know this isn’t the point of the video, but it’s so sad that the society we live in has conditioned us to place such an emphasis on beauty that we end up actively harming ourselves in the pursuit of it. i’m glad you’re okay now!!” a third commenter chimed in. “Hopefully the remaining pain will go away with time.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Carly via Instagram and TikTok direct messages for comment. We’ve also contacted Shein via contact form.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
