Editing Corset (section)

== Health effects ==
[[File:X-Ray'de_bir_korseli_kadın.jpg|right|thumb|X-ray of a woman in a corset]]
The negative physical effects of corseting have become widely known, including a variety of myths. For example, the idea that Victorian women frequently underwent [[rib removal]] to achieve a smaller waist is baseless.<ref name="Steele2">{{cite book |last=Steele |first=Valerie |title=The Corset: A Cultural History |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-300-09953-3 |pages= |language=en}}</ref> However, wearing a corset does affect a number of bodily functions and can be deleterious to the wearer's health, especially when worn regularly over a long period of time; during the Victorian era stays were typically begun at or before the onset of puberty, with reported ages ranging from 7 to 13.<ref name="Summers-2001" />

=== Respiration ===
Moderately laced corsets have been demonstrated to reduce [[lung capacity]] anywhere from 2 to 29%, with an average of 9%, and can cause an increase in shortness of breath during moderate exercise such as dancing.<ref name="Steele2" />{{Rp|pages=69-70}}<ref name="Gau-1998" /> In a study of 16 subjects, those with smaller-than-average (>32.5 in) waists were found to experience a greater reduction of lung capacity, but those with above-average waist sizes had more difficulty recovering to their initial lung capacity after the corset was removed; this replicated the results of historical studies.<ref name="Gau-1998" /> Based on such studies as well as modern accounts of corset usage, accounts of [[fainting]] due to corset usage are thought to be credible. Dances were often a reason to lace a corset unusually tight, which combined with exercise could lead to shortness of breath.<ref name="Steele2" />{{Rp|page=70}}

Doctors warned corseted women against "everything that [was] worthy of the name exercise" to avoid strain,<ref name="Steele2" />{{Rp|pages=70–71}} although some guides were written on light calisthenics to be done by young women who would presumably be wearing corsets. Typical exercises included stretching, dance steps, and skipping, largely focusing on moving the limbs and balancing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schultz |first=Isaac |date=2020-05-22 |title=To Work Out Like a Victorian Woman, Grab a Corset—and Don't Break a Sweat |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/work-out-like-victorian-woman |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref> As women's social freedom increased during the second half of the 19th century, sport corsets began to be sold, designed for wear while [[bicycling]], playing [[tennis]], or horseback riding. These designs typically incorporated some form of elastic panelling or mesh.<ref name="Summers-2001" />

Corsets were widely thought to contribute to [[tuberculosis]]. Prior to the advent of [[Germ theory of disease|germ theory]], some thought corsets directly caused the disease, as women were significantly more likely to contract and die from the disease than men in this era. Others thought corsets contributed to TB deaths due to impairment of lung function.<ref name="Gau-1998" /><ref name="Steele2" /> 

=== Muscular wasting ===
Corsets are known to contribute significantly to [[muscle wasting]] in the core and back when worn over long periods of time. Although they temporarily relieve back pain, muscle atrophy due to disuse will lead to increased lower-back pain and eventually reliance on the corset to stand upright without pain.<ref name="Steele2" />{{Rp|pages=71-72}} [[Forceps delivery]] was standard during this period, which could be due to [[Muscle atrophy|atrophy]] of the abdominal muscles caused by lifelong corset usage.<ref name="Gau-1998" />

=== Skeletal deformities ===
Skeletal analyses have found that the usage of corsets had a significant effect on the form of the spine, ribs, and hips.<ref name="Klingerman-2006" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Killgrove |first=Kristina |date=16 November 2015 |title=Here's How Corsets Deformed The Skeletons Of Victorian Women |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/11/16/how-corsets-deformed-the-skeletons-of-victorian-women/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Martin-2024" /> This change was permanent when the corset was used in early childhood and adolescence; modern wearers who begin usage in adulthood may see some temporary changes.<ref name="Steele2" />{{Rp|page=72}} The consequences of this change are not fully agreed upon by researchers. Underdevelopment of the pelvic inlet may have contributed to difficulties in birth.<ref name="Klingerman-2006" />

=== Pelvic floor and reproductive health ===
A significant source of the controversy surrounding corsets was their ability to affect the reproductive system due to the downward pressure created by displacement of organs.<ref name="Summers-2001" /> One Doctor Lewis writes in an 1882 edition of ''[[The North American Review]]'':<ref name="Rice-1882">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZgJW1AG2LUC&dq=%22A+girl+who+has+indulged+in+tight+lacing+should+not+marry.%22&pg=PA510 |title=The North American Review |date=1882 |publisher=University of Northern Iowa |language=en}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|A girl who has indulged in tight lacing should not marry. She may be a very devoted wife, yet her husband will secretly regret his marriage. Physicians of experience know what is meant, while thousands of husbands will not only know, but deeply feel the meaning of this hint.}}

This quote alludes to problems with the reproductive organs experienced by women who [[Tightlacing|tightlaced]], and demonstrates the difficulties of explaining this issue due to [[Victorian morality|Victorian taboos]] around discussing sexuality. Reformist and activist [[Catharine Beecher]] was one of the few to defy propriety norms and discuss in any detail the gynecological issues resulting from lifelong corset usage, in particular [[uterine prolapse]].<ref name="Tokology-1898">Alice Bunker Stockham. '''Tokology''' 1898.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beecher |first1=Catharine Esther |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5w5AQAAMAAJ |title=Principles of Domestic Science: As Applied to the Duties and Pleasures of Home: a Text-book for the Use of Young Ladies in Schools, Seminaries, and Colleges |last2=Stowe |first2=Harriet Beecher |date=1870 |publisher=J. B. Ford |language=en}}</ref> Corsets were usually worn during pregnancy, often as long as possible, to suppress and disguise the appearance of the growing fetus.<ref name="Steele2" />{{Rp|page=76}} Obstetrician and writer [[Alice Bunker Stockham]] campaigned against the widespread practice of wearing corsets during [[pregnancy]], writing sardonically: "The corset should not be worn for two hundred years before pregnancy."<ref name="Tokology-1898" /> Feminist historian Leigh Summers theorized that some of the moral panic came from the common but unspeakable idea that tightlacing could be used to induce an [[abortion]].<ref name="Summers-2001" /><ref name="Steele2" /> Doctors often attributed the difficult births many Victorian women experienced to corsets, widely believing that "primitive" women who wore less restrictive garments had less painful births and were overall healthier and more vigorous.<ref name="Summers-2001" /><ref name="Rice-1882" /> 

Modern skeletal analyses indicate that corseting, particularly during pre-puberty (most girls began in early or pre-adolescence<ref name="Steele2" />), led to underdevelopment of the [[pelvic inlet]], which is consistent with reported difficulties in birth, although studies into this topic have been mixed.<ref name="Martin-2024">{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Hannah |title=How the Cultural Becomes Biological: Evidence for Corseting in the Skeletal Record |url=https://theclassicjournal.uga.edu/index.php/2018/10/31/how-the-cultural-becomes-biological-evidence-for-corseting-in-the-skeletal-record/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=The Classic Journal}}</ref><ref name="Klingerman-2006" /> Surgery Professor Arthur Cleland of Glasgow reported that it was common, upon autopsy, to find atrophied ovaries in women who were upper class, shop assistants, or household servants, but not in those considered "rough" working class.<ref name="Gau-1998" />

==== Prolapse ====
[[Uterine prolapse]] was a condition likely exacerbated by regular corset usage.<ref name="Steele2" /><ref name="Gau-1998">{{Cite web |last=Gau |first=Colleen Ruby |year=1998 |title=Historic medical perspectives of corseting and two physiologic studies with reenactors |url=https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/6490af37-411b-4143-9878-80ee706e47bd/content}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Lauren |date=2014-03-17 |title=No, corsets did not destroy the health of Victorian women |url=https://gizmodo.com/no-corsets-did-not-destroy-the-health-of-victorian-wom-1545644060 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Gizmodo |language=en-US}}</ref> Both [[Rectal prolapse|rectal]] and uterine prolapse occurred at a higher incidence during the Victorian era than today, with occurrences declining as the corset fell out of fashion.<ref name="Gau-1998" /> An 1888 doctor reported that “uterine derangement had increased fifty percent within the last fifteen years as a result of tight clothing, corsets and high heels."<ref name="Summers-2001" />{{Rp|page=113}} This era saw the development of a number of [[Pessary|pessaries]] and other devices patented to support the prolapsed uterus, the insertion of which frequently led to further complications; the topic was a subject of wide professional discussion among [[Gynaecology|gynecologists]].<ref name="Summers-2001" /><ref name="Klingerman-2006" />

=== Miscellaneous ===
Corset wearing is known to decrease the size of the stomach and constrict intestinal [[Intestinal motility|motility]],<ref name="Gau-1998" /> potentially leading to constipation or indigestion. The downward pressure on the pelvic floor can also lead to [[urinary incontinence]], similar to that experienced during pregnancy. Friction and pressure from the corset may also cause abrasions or bruising of the skin.<ref name="Steele2" /> The pressure exerted by a corset may have also negatively affected kidney function, potentially contributing to [[hypertension]].<ref name="Gau-1998" /> The displacement of fat caused by a corset may lead to distension in the lower abdomen that persists when the corset is removed, an effect that can be exacerbated by the muscular weakness caused by corset usage.<ref name="Steele2" />

Chlorosis is a now-outdated term which referred to a disease thought to be caused directly by corsets, the symptoms of which correspond to what is now called [[hypochromic anemia]].<ref name="Steele2" /> The illness, also known as green sickness, was associated with the onset of [[menarche]] and fell under the umbrella of "female complaints": problems attributed to the increasing demands that puberty brought onto the frail female body.<ref name="Summers-2001" /> The physician [[Frederick Parkes Weber]] posited that the disease may have been caused by corset wearing, noting that the illness never appeared in boys, that fat rather than thin girls were more likely to experience it, and that prolonged bed rest seemed to resolve the symptoms, while trips to the sea (during which corsets would still be worn) did not.<ref name="Summers-2001" />{{Rp|page=111}}