A South Korean beauty trend that gives users a pointier nose with the aid of tiny pegs inserted into nostrils is quickly gaining popularity among women in East Asia.
The nose-lifting practice, which started about two years ago, is reportedly now spreading to countries where women with a more European look are considered more attractive, such as neighboring Japan, mainland China, and Taiwan, reports Apple Daily (via Daily Mail).
Cheap and non-invasive, the DIY beauty trend requires no surgery and merely involves the use of two tiny curved silicone pegs which can easily be purchased on Asian e-commerce sites.
While South Korean brands remain popular, cheaper copycat products have emerged in the market selling for about a dollar or so.
The package contains pegs measuring about two to three centimeters long and a tiny hook used to adjust the pegs.
To use, the two pegs are simply inserted into the nostrils. The supplementary hook is then used to adjust the pegs so they are erected in a 45-degree angle inside the nose.
The items are advertised as safe and virtually “invisible” and marketed as a viable alternative to a surgical nose job. Some ads even claim the product is “antibacterial.”
However, despite such claims, many have raised serious health concerns against the trend following recent cases of misuse of the product.
Just recently, a Chinese woman accidentally swallowed a peg, which ended up in her stomach. Doctors extracted it from her body two days later.
In Taipei last year, another peg user had a medical emergency after a peg poked through her nasal membrane, causing a bacterial infection, reports Apple Daily.
According to Dr. Liao Guoliang, the doctor who treated the woman, there has been a recent increase in the number of female patients who had come seeking medical attention after suffering from nasal diseases and injuries caused by the silicone pegs.
Chinese “ear-nose-throat” specialist Dr. Zhou Xin has warned against the use of the nasal pegs, calling the beauty trend “life-threatening”, noting that the tiny objects could end up blocking the user’s respiratory tract, causing difficulties in breathing and even eventually death.
