- The ‘bone breaking tutorial’ videos have accumulated 364 million views on TikTok
- But doctors warn against this practice because it could leave you disfigured.
- READ MORE: Wave of American teens are using laxatives like ‘cheap Ozempic’
Medical experts are sounding the alarm about a strange new TikTok trend in which people hit their faces with hammers in the hopes it will make them more attractive.
The idea behind so-called “bone breaking” is that people hit their faces with hammers, bottles, massagers, weights or other blunt objects to break or fracture their bones in the hope of reshaping your facial structure.
The theory behind this scary trend is that bones will heal in a more desirable alignment after being broken or fractured.
But there is no evidence that this is the case, and tThere is a high probability that it will go wrong and leave people in an even worse situation.
Dr. Prem Tripathi, a San Francisco plastic surgeon, said in a TikTok video: “I honestly never thought I’d have to come here and say this, but please don’t intentionally break your facial bones.”
Videos with the phrase ‘bone breaking tutorial’ have already accumulated 364 million views on TikTok. The idea is that people hit their faces with hammers, bottles, massagers, weights or other blunt objects to reshape their facial structure.
He said that if you ‘displace those bones and then they have to heal on their own,’ you can end up with a malunion fracture, which occurs when a fractured bone heals in an abnormal position. They can cause health complications and It will leave you disfigured because ‘the bones are not healed properly.’
Despite the dangers of the trend, videos with the phrase ‘bone breaking tutorial’ have already racked up 364 million views on TikTok.
TikTokers’ rationale for this strange practice appears to have to do with Wolff’s Law, devised by German anatomist and surgeon Julius Wolff in the 19th century.
The law is based on the fact that our bones are not inanimate structures. They constantly change as old or damaged bone tissue is resorbed and replaced by new bone.
Applying force or physical stress to bones can increase the speed at which this regeneration process occurs and provide firmer, thicker bones.
That’s one reason why physical activity, especially weight-lifting exercises, can help improve bone strength and stop bone loss.
On the other hand, not doing any weight-lifting exercises can contribute to bones becoming thinner and brittle.
But there is a big difference between the force on the bones produced by carrying groceries or lifting weights and hitting yourself in the face with a blunt object.
Additionally, Wolff’s law is a huge simplification of how bones work. There are many other things that contribute to bone density, such as nutrition and hormone levels.
A TikToker from Toronto, Canada, said he has been experimenting with breaking bones to “improve his facial structure.”
But many users were quick to condemn him, saying that the differences seen in his before and after images were simply the result of better lighting.
The Canadian bodybuilder admitted that he had suffered a bruise in the past from “exerting himself too much.”
While bones heal after a fracture, they are not guaranteed to heal properly or in a way that gives people the chiseled jawline they were hoping for.
Breaking bones risks damaging soft tissue, connective tissue, or eyes, which could lead to permanent injury. There could also be bleeding and lesions that could become infected.
While most people talking about this practice appear to be men, women on average have smaller, thinner bones than their male counterparts, meaning they are at even greater risk of accidentally hurting themselves.
