Dangerous Beauty Mistakes That Could Put You in the Hospital

Some people will do anything to look beautiful — even put their health and wellness at risk. If you make it a habit to chase the latest beauty trends, you should have the good sense to avoid beauty-related practices that could cause lasting harm. Here are a few beauty mistakes that have put other people in the hospital, so you can avoid them in your own pursuit of beauty.

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Waist Training

For centuries, people have desired an hourglass shape, and for centuries, men and women both have used corsets and cinchers to physically force their waists to be slimmer. While it can be safe to use waist trainers in a limited capacity — for a brief amount of time with long periods in between use to allow the body to recover — many people throughout history have endured waist training non-stop, through all waking hours.

By changing the natural shape of the body, a waist trainer can cause the organs inside the abdomen to shift, which damages them and makes them less effective. Waist training can also put strain on the cardiovascular system by making it much more difficult to breathe and for the heart to pump blood through the constricted areas. Perhaps most commonly, waist training can result in unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms, from heartburn to irritable bowel syndrome. If you have maintained poor waist training habits in the past, you might pay attention to symptoms such as these and see a doctor for treatment.

Juice Cleanses

For years, juice cleanses have been advertised by prominent figures in the wellness industry as an effective way to rid the body of toxins and introduce vital nutrients for the health of hair, skin, nails and more. However, research has found that not only are juice cleanses failing to deliver the promised effects but in fact, they can have serious health consequences if they are maintained over long periods of time.

Unfortunately, juice does not contain all the nutrients the body and mind need to function properly. When you consume only juice for days or weeks at a time, you are taking in a large amount of natural sugars and little else. As a result, your body will go into starvation mode, in which it will pull energy from your muscles — to include your heart — as a means of sustaining itself. Damage from starvation can last a lifetime, so the effects are not worth whatever temporary feelings you may glean from a juice cleanse.

Tanning Beds

Tan skin is in — but you might want to find alternative ways to give your skin that bronzed, glowing look besides UV rays. Both tanning outside under the sun and tanning in a bed or booth compel the melanin in the skin to darken due to exposure to UV rays. However, UV rays are a type of radiation, and every exposure to UV light provides a chance for the skin to grow mutated cancer cells, which can spread around the body.

In the United States, almost 100,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma, or skin cancer, every year. If you have a history of tanning, you should watch your skin for the growth of abnormal moles, which could be life-threatening cancers. You can schedule an online doctor visit to double-check that any new spots are safe — and in the meantime, you should stop tanning and start using a self-tanner product or, better yet, loving the skin you’re in.

Many Beauty “Hacks”

The rise of social media has brought about a rise in the spread of beauty information — and misinformation. Instagram and TikTok, in particular, are responsible for disseminating all sorts of claims about tools and practices for increasing individual beauty; some of these claims do turn out to be useful tips, but a large number of them are definitely dangerous and can cause permanent damage to those that try them.

You should be wary of any information you gain through social media. If a beauty tip involves using a product in a manner it was not designed for, you might consult a professional before attempting it. Likewise, you should avoid beauty tips that involve any kind of sharp object, which will almost certainly cause scarring and put you at risk of infection.

Being beautiful is not worth compromising your health. Before you do anything potentially harmful to your body, you should think twice about the long-term ramifications of your actions and perhaps look for a safer solution for achieving the look and feeling you crave.