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Does Bone Smashing Work? Everything there is to know

Today we are going to cover a very controversial topic that isn’t the most talked about thing on the internet, however, it is definitely the one garnering the most questions. Young adults are dying to know if it actually works and whether they should be practicing it or not. 

Yes! We are talking about Bone Smashing, or like some people like to call it – ‘Bone Hypertrophy’. Let us understand more about Bone Smashing and how it claims to maximize your looks.

What is Bone Smashing? | Bone Smashing Meaning

Bone Smashing includes hitting selected areas of the face with a flat and hard object such as chin and cheekbones in order to achieve bone growth and more prominent appearing facial features, mainly cheekbones.

Bone Smashing

This theory revolves around the principle of Wolff’s law which we will learn about further in this blog. The idea is to apply external pressure on the same area everyday to achieve growth and remodeling of that bone.

The Bone Smashing theory claims that you can force bone growth by exposing your bones to direct repeated trauma. You can now understand why the nature of this practice is so controversial, it is because of the violent approach it demands.

Science Behind Bone Smashing | Wolff’s Law of Bone Remodeling

This practice stems from the idea that bones grow in response to the external stress placed on them. Bone Smashing is based on a theory which follows Wolff’s law: 

Wolff’s law was developed by the German surgeon and anatomist Julius Wolff in the 19th century. The Wolff’s law states that when exposed to external loads, bones in a healthy person will adapt to the same and grow thicker.

Bone Smashing Before and After

If loading/pressure on a particular bone is increased, the bone will remodel itself over a course of time to be stronger to resist that sort of pressure.This is our body’s response to the pressure and a way of adapting to the new environment.

A good example of this law includes the racket-holding arm bones of tennis players. 

One arm of a tennis player is much stronger than the other arm. This is because their bodies have strengthened the bones in the arm by which they generally hold a racket, since it is frequently placed under more pressure.

How do you perform Bone Smashing?

While it is not recommended that you perform Bone Smashing, here is what we found online for knowledge purposes.

Bone Smashing

  • Use a hard and flat object that has a flat surface, alternatively, you can also use your knuckles or fist. 
  • Hold it around 1 cm away from the targeted bone.
  • For 30 seconds, tap the bone with light force.
  • Rest in between sets  and repeat 5 times.

Risks involved in Bone Smashing

  • Bruising
  • Swelling
  • Pain
  • Inflammation
  • Permanent Damage
  • Self Harm
  • Asymmetry

Does Bone Smashing Work?

There are very few people that have tried and tested this technique for it to be recommended to young adults. 

Scientifically, Wolff’s Law of Bone Remodeling is in place, however, it clearly states that effects on the bone structure depend largely on the duration, magnitude and rate of loading. Also, there is no evidence that a bone that is injured will heal to be stronger than it was previously.

Apart from the risks associated with this practice, another reason why it cannot be recommended is that there are no tools at the disposal of us youngsters that could possibly help us measure or monitor the rate and magnitude of the pressure we may be applying.

Hence, there are more cons than pros to this practice making it very risky.

Mewing Vs Bone Smashing

Does Bone Smashing work?

In a video of Prof. Mike Mew titled ‘The Effect of Forces on Bone By Dr Mike Mew’, he compares short high forces to light long duration forces, pointing out that our bones are incredibly susceptible to light long duration forces. 

According to him, a bone is very mobile when subjected to long-gentle-forces, same as what is applied in Orthotropics/Orthodontics via correct tongue posture.

What does this indicate? This according to us indicates that Mewing is way more effective and should be preferred over the so called Bone Smashing.

There are numerous proven health benefits associated with the proper tongue posture that mewing advocates as well. Contradictingly, there are zero in terms of Bone Smashing that we have come across.

Bone Smashing Before and After | Bone Smashing Results

While we couldn’t find any solid evidence of bone smashing, here is a related picture for a better visual representation of this practice.

Bone Smashing Before and After

Final Thoughts

There is not enough research backing up the practice of Bone Smashing. While it is not wrong to be wanting to maximize your looks and facial appearance, that shouldn’t come with self harm.

Mewing is a way better solution for people looking to enhance their facial features. You can always pair Mewing with Facial Exercises, Jawline Exercises to add to the benefits.

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