It’s scary to see how far some people are willing to go in the name of “perfection”. But, deep down, perfection for whom?
Remodel or remove bones from the body to look “sexy” is crazy. And yet, there are those who do. Voluntarily.
All in the name of the cult of celebrities, the rise of Ozempic and this bizarre world of beauty trends on social media, which treat the human body as if it were a customizable avatar.
One of the most extreme examples of this trend is the rib removalwhich was recently covered in an article on Emily Jamesa 28-year-old influencer who decided to take (literally) drastic measures to achieve perfection.
The young American spent 13,750 dollars (about 12 thousand euros) in surgery that removed six ribsthree on each side, to reduce waist that he had, 80 cm, for about 60.
But instead of the “dream body”, he had 7 months of suffering. “I don’t recommend rib removal surgery to anyone,” said the young woman on .
In her publication, Emily highlights the obvious, what all surgeons warn: “I no longer have ribs to protect the liver and kidneys”, which means that any serious impact could become catastrophic.
The older version of this operation, known as costectomyor surgeryant waist”, has been around since the 1970s. Surgeons usually remove the 11th and 12th ribs, the short, “floating” pair.
It never became a widespread procedure for one simple reason: people realized that bones have a function. But body fashions are changing faster than common sense, and the new obsession with tiny waists has paved the way for the reappearance of this type of intervention.
The remodeling of the ribs, or “RibXcar“, presents itself as a less aggressive alternative — at least in theory, note a. Instead of removing bones, surgeons partially fracture floating ribs through small punctures and fold them inwards.
The plastic surgeon Thomas Sterrya certified specialist in New York, described the procedure as a way of “soften the outer cortex” to create controlled fractures that alter the contour from the waist.
Afterwards, patients must wear a corset almost 24 hours a dayfor several months, to maintain the new silhouette. Still, there are women signing up.
One of Sterry’s patients, Shiqi Maa 27-year-old accountant, paid around 10 thousand dollars (something like 8 thousand euros) to “tighten” the waist before the wedding. “My new waist makes me feel sexier”.
The doctors and surgeons who perform the procedure guarantee that reshaping the body is something natural. Well me very excited are the psychotherapists.
This is the case of the New York psychotherapist Lesley Koeppelwhich warns that linking self-esteem to such drastic physical changes can make people vulnerable: While intervention may give a temporary boost to confidence, true emotional strength depends on personal growth—not a waistline tightened to the limit.
To what extent will people feel pressured to sculpt themselves to match false aesthetic ideals, looking for bodies that barely exist off-screen?
