"Bone smashing" is a dangerous trend that involves breaking certain facial bones in pursuit of a squarer jaw. Photo: AFP
No, no, no, you shouldn't try to break the bones in your face to get a square jaw, considered by some to be a sign of virility.
The idea, preposterous though it might sound, would be laughable if it weren't the subject of what some are calling a trend. In any case, it represents a real danger for the young men toying with the idea of testing this "bone smashing" technique.
Some things might seem obvious, but they're not necessarily for everyone, and even less so for the younger generation, who are on the lookout for tricks and "hacks" of all kinds to improve their daily lives, and sometimes to meet certain physical beauty standards promoted by society.
This has already been seen with "trends" which, despite being dangerous, have spread at lightning speed on social networks, such as Barbie Botox and beer tanning, to name but a few.
The latest such technique is "bone smashing", which, as the name suggests, consists of... breaking your facial bones.
Read more: People are 'mewing' to sculpt their faces, but does this beauty technique work?
Breaking bones
The mere mention of this trend is terrifying, but it's a concept that's spreading like wildfire on social networks, led by TikTok.
If the videos posted on the Chinese social network are to be believed, the idea would be to continuously hit the bones of the face, and more specifically the jaw, with your hands, massage tools or a hammer (made of soft plastic, but still), to create microfractures in order to modify the bone structure.
This can supposedly lead the jaw to heal in a way that makes the jawline more prominent, and even take on a more angular shape, in line with certain ideals of male beauty.
And according to those who have tried it, the results are amazing – there are plenty of before-and-after shots on social media – despite the pain involved.
As a result, the #bonesmashing hashtag has already garnered almost 300 million views.
"I honestly never thought I'd have to come on here and say this, but please don't intentionally break the bones in your face," warns Dr Prem Tripathi, a plastic surgeon based in California, who regularly analyses beauty techniques that have gone viral on social networks.
The medical professional explains that bones have the ability to heal themselves, but if this does not happen correctly, it can lead to facial deformations.
In other words, people trying this method could find themselves disfigured, which is hopefully enough to put them off trying.
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More criticised than copied
Reassuringly, while this dubious method has already racked up almost 300 million views, few users seem to have actually tried it.
Most of them are simply picking up on the few videos that can be found on the subject to criticise them, and denounce a practice that the majority of internet users – obviously – consider to be dangerous.
Nevertheless, this isn't the first time that the jaw, and more specifically the attainment of a square jaw, has been the subject of techniques of all kinds on social platforms, reflecting the ongoing influence of certain beauty standards.
This has been seen with the recent craze for "chin lipo"; liposuction of the chin designed to shape a more defined and athletic jaw, but also "mewing"; a technique that involves tongue posture correction exercises to achieve a squarer jaw, or buccal fat removal, a cosmetic surgery procedure that involves sculpting the face to make it more angular.
In this respect, Dr Tripathi reminds viewers that no eccentric technique presented on social media is really going to alter the appearance of your jaw.
In all cases, this would require the advice and expertise of a qualified plastic surgeon. – AFP Relaxnews
