Once again, TikTok is at the center of attention with its increasingly controversial viral beauty trends, pushing the boundaries of beauty standards to extremes.
It may sound unbelievable, but some TikTok followers are attempting to enhance their facial features through an unconventional method known as 'bone smashing'. People on TikTok have been seen using hammers, bottles, massagers, or other blunt objects on their faces to change their facial features.
Surprisingly, videos tagged with 'bone smashing tutorial' have accumulated over 267.7 million views on TikTok.
Josh Trebach, MD, shared images from TikTok on Twitter of the young man following the trend of bone smashing.
The founder and CEO of MedBound, Dr. Munish Kumar, MD, an attending neonatologist, remarked on the whole unsafe trend of bone smashing as "Horrible!"
People following this trend base it on Wolff’s Law.
Wolff's Law was developed by the German anatomist and surgeon Julius Wolff. It states that the bone in a healthy person will adapt to the stress under which it is placed. Bones respond to stress or mechanical forces by changing their shape and density. The trabeculae (internal structure) undergo changes in the external part of the bone in response to stress. The decreased stress or load on the bone makes the bone weaker and less dense.
Subha Maheswari, Program Coordinator at MedBound, shared her thoughts on the viral trend. She remarked, "People are citing Wolff’s Law, a 19th-century medical theory that says bones adapt to the stress they’re subjected to, as reasoning. For example, if the bones are subjected to heavier loads, they will naturally reconstruct themselves to accommodate that weight. The law is proven to be unreliable."
Gautam Juneja, MBBS final year at JSS Medical College, remarked the trend as scary and funny at the same time.
"OMG! This is scary and funny too. I mean, people can do anything without understanding the science behind it."
Akanksha Nigam, Bachelor of Pharmacy (final year), Uttar Pradesh, and Sonali Pradhan, a social media Intern at MedBound, thanked God for the ban on the TikTok app in India.
People following this trend attempt to justify their 'bone smashing' by basing it on Wolff's law. However, the harmful practice cannot be supported by Wolff's law, as bone remodeling primarily occurs at the ends of bones, not in the middle or elsewhere. Breaking bones can cause severe damage, pain, and deformity.
Not all trends on social media are safe. One should remain careful while following such trends, keeping their safety and health in mind.
(Input from Various Media Sources)
(Rehash/Opinion/Dr. Shelja Chauhan)