Abstract
Background: Having and sustaining a perfect body is a goal that many people are trying to reach. This is further influenced due to increasing interest in social media. Among these products is a popular trend that has spread rapidly: corset-like belts, or waist trainers. These belts are designed to slim the waist, while providing the illusion of an hourglass silhouette. Because of where the belt sits in relation to the diaphragm, the purpose of this research is to discover what kind of effect it has on breathing.
Methods: A pre-test survey was administered to collect non-specific information and to analyze beliefs towards waist trainers and social media. The participants were then instructed to perform a series of breathing techniques while wearing the waist trainer and without it. The three pulmonary function maneuvers selected for this research were the forced vital capacity (FVC) slow vital capacity (SVC) and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) tests. Afterwards, a second survey was administered to analyze subjects' subjective responses to the bedside pulmonary function test. Permission was granted by University's Institutional Review Board to proceed with this research prior to data collection.
Results: A total of ten women participated in the research. Results of the FVC and SVC tests showed little to no change in lung function while wearing the waist trainer (3.222/3.138 L/s; 3.681/3.441 L/s, respectively). Of the three maneuvers performed for this research, the MVV is the most adjacent maneuver in comparison to exerting force, or exercise. Clinically, MVV results are decreased in patients with pulmonary impairments, likewise with the FVC and SVC. The predicted average of the participants was 113 L/s. The average MVV result quantified without the waist trainer was 77.3 L/s. Significantly, the average MVV with the waist trainer was 68.8 L/s. Juxtaposed with SVC and FVC, the MVV results showed the greatest variation between performance with the waist trainer and without it. MVV results showed the most significant difference (77.3/68.8 L/s).
Conclusions: Important findings may be drawn from these results, such as pulmonary impairments, the degree of impairment, and impairment progression. When asked about the MVV, most of the subjects stated that performing the MVV (with and without the waist trainer) was difficult. Moreover, the participants exhibited signs of shortness of breath, sweating, and more pain while wearing the waist trainer.
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