Shapewear isn’t new, but it has become much more popular in recent years—spurred along largely by the support of celebrity icons like the Kardashian sisters. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of women enlist shapewear to help them smooth, slim, and sculpt their figures to boost their body confidence and even promote weight loss over time.
That being said, there are still many widespread rumors and myths floating around about the potentially “harmful” effects of shapewear on your body. Fortunately, most of these rumors—like the three popular myths below—don’t have any real evidence behind them and shouldn’t stop you from trying out shapewear for yourself.
1. “Shapewear Makes it Hard to Breathe”
If your shapewear makes it difficult for you to breathe, you’re wearing the wrong shapewear. It is common for people to confuse corsets and shapewear. Unlike traditional corsets, tummy control shapewear is not designed to squeeze your midsection into a too-small case—which is what makes it difficult to breathe in traditional corset styles.
Instead, the purpose of shapewear is to offer gentle compression that does not put any excess pressure on your lungs or make it difficult to breathe in or out freely. Quality shapewear in the correct size should not interact with your breathing at all, nor should it restrict your movement—which is another common unfounded criticism of shapewear.
2. “Shapewear Damages Your Organs”
This might sound ridiculous, but there are many people out there who insist that wearing shapewear on a regular basis can do permanent damage to your internal organs due to the compression that it provides.
Shapewear is designed to compress your fat—but not your organs—in order to smooth and slim your figure. Shapewear styles are available in different levels of compression. Light compression shapewear tends to be the most comfortable, but even maximum compression styles should not cause any damage to your organs.
3. “Shapewear Doesn’t Work”
By far the most common criticism against shapewear is that it just doesn’t work. While ineffectiveness might not be a danger, the rumors that shapewear is a gimmick or a scam designed to draw in women who don’t want to put in the effort it takes to lose weight deter many women from trying shapewear for themselves. On the contrary, shapewear is designed to sculpt your figure to give your curves a smooth finish. It is not meant to hide your figure or be used as a substitute for healthy weight loss techniques like a balanced diet and exercise routine.
Of course, it is true that shapewear doesn’t work the same for everyone. Some women achieve much more noticeable results than others. The effectiveness of shapewear depends heavily on your body type, BMI, metabolism, etc. However, high-quality shapewear is definitely not a scam. You might have to explore different types of shapewear to determine the right one for you, but you should be able to find a style that offers your desired results—as long as you’re buying quality pieces from a reputable shapewear retailer.