Woman in Her 30s Breaks Six Ribs for '19-Inch Waist'; Specialists Warn of 'Collapsed Lung'

Procedure Performed in Venezuela at a Cost of $10,000
Experts Raise Concerns About the Procedure's Safety

The story has emerged of an American woman who underwent cosmetic surgery in which six healthy ribs were intentionally fractured to create a narrow waist and an hourglass figure. The procedure involves deliberately breaking the ribs and then compressing them with a corset to encourage the bones to heal in a narrower position.

On Nov. 11 (local time), British outlet Need To Know reported that Danny Sessin, 31, a fitness influencer based in Florida, spent about $10,000 (approximately 13 million won) to undergo a rib-remodeling procedure called RibXcar in Venezuela.

Screenshot from Danny Sesin's Instagram.

Sessin had wanted a slim, hourglass figure with a narrow waist since childhood. She became interested in her appearance and started exercising to lose weight at age 14. She later developed abdominal and arm muscles, bringing her closer to the figure she wanted, but remained dissatisfied because her waist was not as slim as she had hoped.

For years, Sessin wore a tightly cinched corset and did intensive workouts. When her waist did not shrink as much as she wanted, she concluded that her rib cage was too wide. Eventually, she returned to her home country of Venezuela in August and underwent rib-remodeling surgery.

The surgeon proposed RibXcar, a procedure that intentionally fractures the ribs to reduce the width of the rib cage. Sessin initially felt uneasy about breaking the ribs that protect vital organs, but after a consultation, she decided to trust the medical team and proceed with the surgery.

Danny Sessin Instagram screenshot

The surgery was performed under general anesthesia. After locating the ribs with ultrasound, the surgeon made six small incisions in Sessin's back and inserted a vibrating instrument to create microfractures in six ribs in total, three lower ribs on each side. After the surgery, Sessin wore a special corset with adjustable devices that could tighten both sides. 

Her recovery was not easy. At first, she could not even get up or lie down without help from someone else, and she also had pain at the incision sites. During the first week after surgery, she struggled so much that she woke up every hour. Eating while wearing the corset was also difficult because the pressure on her abdomen caused acid reflux. Even so, Sessin said she was pleased with the results. She said her waist had shrunk by 8 cm six weeks after the surgery.

Three months after the surgery, Sessin's waist measured 19 inches (about 48.3 cm) while she was wearing the corset and 21 inches (about 53.3 cm) when she took it off.

Her medical team recommended that she wear the corset around the clock for another three months, until her ribs had fully fused in their new positions. Sessin said she recently took it off for about seven hours to wear a Halloween costume, but felt pain in her back.

Sessin said she does not regret her decision. "I'm still in the early stages of recovery, but I'm very happy with the results," she said. "I did this for myself. If I'm happy, I don't care what other people say. At the end of the day, it's my body and my choice."

However, plastic surgeons have raised concerns about the safety of the procedure.

Dr. Gerard Lambe, a spokesperson for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and founder of Reflect Clinic, said, "The biggest concern is that we still don't know what could happen in the long term." He noted, "Breaking and repositioning ribs to make the waist narrower is not a simple cosmetic procedure. It deliberately alters the body's skeletal structure." Dr. Lambe added, "Changing the ribs could cause a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) or a hemothorax, in which blood collects in the pleural cavity." Both conditions can be life-threatening in severe cases.

Other possible complications include allergic reactions to anesthesia, blood clots, infection at the surgical site, and seroma, in which fluid collects under the skin.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.