I have no health problems whatsoever from wearing the corset. On the contrary, since I started wearing it, my posture has become more upright and I don’t slouch my back as most people do when sitting. I have no back pain.

My experiences

Some time ago I had edema in my legs, which was probably caused by the corset, but probably also by other factors such as sitting for a long time, poor blood circulation, too little salt intake, lack of protein or other factors. I am sure that the corset did not cause the edema, but was only one of many promoting factors. Now I don’t have any problems with it, because I always pay attention to sufficient protein and salt intake and do sports every day.

I do not have varicose veins (yet). I am still young. But there is a predisposition in my family. So if I get them, it’s probably not because of the corset, but rather because of the predisposition, because the corset that I wear all the time doesn’t exert such a strong pressure. It definitely does not hinder the blood flow / circulation.

I do suffer from constipation more often, but that was true even when I wasn’t wearing corsets. Since then it has not gotten worse but rather better, because I now eat mainly light, easily digestible things like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I also do an occasional enema to help empty the bowels. It’s also the case that you get full much faster with a corset than without. This is very beneficial if you want to stay slim.

General thoughts about fashion and medicine

Let’s get this straight from the start: It may be more unhealthy to wear a corset than not to wear one. But with what fashionable instrument is it not so? Think, for example, of high heels, tight shoes, tight pants, tight belts, tight bras, perms, hair coloring, makeup, nail polish/remover, cosmetic surgery, piercing, weight loss, sports and others. All this is socially accepted and done by very many women.

In all this it is like in medicine: ‘‘The dose makes the poison’’. Referring to the above examples, this means that their excessive use can be quite harmful, but their controlled use may even be beneficial. This will be explained with three examples:

High heels

The dose here can be measured by heel height and wearing time. It is a medical fact that a heel height of about 5cm is physiological. In other words, it is healthier to wear 5cm high heels than none at all. However, many women now wear higher heels. In order to evaluate the effects of this fact, the duration of wearing must be taken into consideration. For example, if shoes with 8cm high heels are worn for a limited time (for example, for one evening (e.g. theater) or perhaps for a whole day now and then (e.g. family party)), then no permanent problems will result. Maybe the feet will hurt a little, but that will pass. However, if such high shoes are worn continuously all day, it is possible that the feet will be damaged. Nevertheless, this is socially accepted and practiced by many women. So, positively speaking, wearing shoes with heels about 5cm high all the time is to be welcomed and wearing shoes with higher heels from time to time is without problems.

Weight loss

The dose here corresponds to the weight loss or the final weight achieved. It is again a medical fact that being overweight is unhealthy. Slim people demonstrably tend less to cardiovascular diseases as well as to metabolic disorders (diabetes etc.), if there are not other influencing factors (stress, heredity). This is particularly evident among ascetic peoples, where people live to a ripe old age despite poor medical care. In industrialized countries, slimness is considered the ideal of beauty. This is to be welcomed insofar as a healthy condition is considered beautiful here. However, the essence of fashion is exaggeration. This also applies to slimness. Therefore, many women try to be extremely slim, leaving the healthy range. Weight loss that requires such severe food restriction that deficiency symptoms occur can be considered unhealthy. Vitamin and protein deficiencies should be mentioned here. Nevertheless, this is socially accepted and practiced by many women. So, positively speaking, any weight loss achieved without deficiency diseases is to be welcomed.

Sports

The dose here corresponds to the intensity of training. Again, it is a medical fact that it is healthy to exercise. But here, too, moderation must be maintained. Excessive sports training tends to do the opposite of what it is supposed to do: It harms the body. It is not for nothing that the medical profession of sports medicine exists, which has to deal, among other things, with such negative effects of exaggerated sports. With the today prevailing efficiency thinking, which affects itself into the spare time, it often happens that hobby sportsmen take over themselves. In particular also in connection with losing weight after the slogan ‘‘much helps much’’. Positively speaking, every sporting activity that takes place to an extent that it does not harm the body is very welcome.

Conclusion

Three examples of socially accepted instruments for beautification of the body were examined in some detail. It turned out that use in moderation causes no harm and may even have health benefits. So what about wearing a corset? The comparison with wearing shoes with high heels fits best here. What has been said there applies in many respects also to wearing a corset.

The dose is certainly the amount of compression exerted by the corset. If the corset is laced too tightly, the blood supply to the skin and abdominal organs will be impeded. It will also restrict breathing. However, if it is not too tight, it hardly exerts any disturbing influence on the biological activities of the body.

When is a corset too tightly laced? The flat answer to this question is: When the wearer does not feel comfortable. This answer implies at the same time that when the corset is laced correctly, no discomfort occurs and no somatic complaints arise. This may sound unbelievable in view of some partly extreme cases of corset wearing. However, from my own experience I can assure that it is so. The secret of the whole thing is namely the habituation. Here there is an analogy to the shoes with high heels, which every woman knows: If you start wearing shoes with high heels, your feet will hurt after a short time. However, if you have worn such shoes for a few years, then wearing them for a long time hardly matters.