CORSET addict, 48, who wears a steel

A corset addict who wears a steel-bone cincher for 16 hours a day in an attempt to break the record for the tiniest waist has revealed how the accessory has left her suffering from agonizing migraines.

Since 2012, Sarah Vaeth, 48, from Portland, Oregon, has been slowly making her frame smaller by wearing extremely restrictive corsets for hours on end.

The mother-of-one is fiercely determined to break the Guinness World Record for the smallest waist, which is 15 inches - and she's now only half an inch away. 

But getting there has not been easy, as she revealed last year that her bizarre obsession has had negative long-term affects on her body that have left her reeling in pain.

A corset addict who wears a steel-bone cincher for 16 hours a day in an attempt to break the record for the tiniest waist has revealed how it has left her suffering from agonizing migraines

Since 2012, Sarah Vaeth, 48, from Portland, Oregon , has been slowly making her frame smaller by wearing extremely restrictive corsets for hours on end

The mother-of-one is fiercely determined to break the Guinness World Record for the smallest waist, which is 15 inches - and she's now only half an inch away

But getting there has not been easy, as she revealed last year that her bizarre obsession has had negative long-term affects on her body that have left her reeling in pain

In an episode of the TLC show Crack Addicts, which premiered in May 2023 but was recently re-uploaded on the network's YouTube channel, Sarah opened up about some of the downsides of wearing the confining piece of clothing while visiting acclaimed chiropractor Dr. Alessandra Colón. 

Sarah admitted that she was suffering from severe headaches that felt like an 'ice pick' inside her brain.

'I have experienced migraines for most of my adult life,' Sarah told Dr. Colón in the episode. 'It's a very sharp, very concentrated pain in one spot.'

She then told Dr. Colón about her unusual habit, which left the chiropractor shocked.

'From a doctor's perspective, there's no way you can't think of atrophy and [muscle] weakness,' Dr. Colón told the camera privately. 'How is that hindering the body?' 

After looking at her X-rays, the doctor said that Sarah had a 'small slant' on her lower back, and 'so much hypertonicity' in her neck, which she believed was a result of the corset.

'It's going to affect you in the long run,' she warned. 'There's a head tilt going on here, and a little rotation in your spine. So it puts pressure on one side.'

Sarah then took off her top to show Dr. Colón her corset, and the chiropractor couldn't believe how tiny her waist was.

In an episode of the TLC show Crack Addicts, Sarah opened up about some of the downsides of wearing the confining piece of clothing while visiting chiropractor Dr. Alessandra Colón

Sarah admitted that she was suffering from severe headaches that felt like an 'ice pick' inside her brain

After looking at her X-rays, the doctor said that Sarah had a 'small slant' on her lower back, and 'so much hypertonicity' in her neck, which she believed was a result of the corset

'It's going to affect you in the long run,' she warned. 'There's a head tilt going on here, and a little rotation in your spine. So it puts pressure on one side'

She wondered to the camera, 'Where does everything go? Where's the kidney? Where's the liver? For her waist to be this small, it's really gonna affect how the system works'

She wondered to the camera, 'Where does everything go? Where's the kidney? 

'Where's the liver? Where's the intestines? For her waist to be this small, it's really gonna affect how the system works.

'It's very clear why she has these headaches. The corset is decreasing her blood flow.'

Dr. Colón then had Sarah take off the corset, and she performed a series of stretches on her to help loosen up her body.

Sarah said she felt so much better afterwards, adding, 'I can't remember when I last felt this way.' 

'I think I do need to take this seriously,' she admitted. 'Spending so many hours a day with those muscles immobilized in the corset [is not good].'

A woman named Cathie Jung currently holds the record for the smallest tight-laced waist on a living person at 15 inches, which she earned in 1999 at age 62. As of last year, Sarah's waist measured 15.5 inches. 

Sarah previously explained that she first started wearing the cinchers to improve her posture - something that's now ironic considering what Dr. Colón told her - but quickly fell in love with the way she looked in them.

'Once I tried on my first corset, I was surprised by the dramatic effect it had on my appearance, even cinched relatively loosely,' she explained to Jam Press in 2020. 

A woman named Cathie Jung currently holds the record for the smallest tight-laced waist on a living person at 15 inches. As of last year, Sarah's waist measured 15.5 inches 

Sarah previously explained that she first started wearing the cincher to improve her posture but quickly fell in love with the way she looked in them

'Once I tried on my first corset, I was surprised by the effect it had on my appearance,' she explained in 2020. 'The hyper-feminine curve it created was so different from my figure'

She explained that wearing the corsets has caused her to reposition her lower ribs - but insisted that it wasn't painful at the time 

'The hyper-feminine curve it created was so different from my natural figure. The possibility of re-shaping the body was incredibly compelling to me and I was hooked on corsets from that moment on.'

She explained that wearing the corsets has caused her to reposition her lower ribs - but insisted that it wasn't painful at the time. 

'The ribs are nudged a little further from the natural wide-splayed orientation towards a more circular one, creating a narrower midsection,' she shared. 

'Once my corset and my body are both broken in, the corset just feels like a firm vest – it's supportive and comforting. 

'I've only experienced pain with corsets which, as I realized in retrospect, were sized incorrectly for my body, putting inappropriate pressure on the hips or upper torso.' 

Despite wearing the tiny garment every day, Sarah also vowed that she is able to eat and drink as normal. 

'The corset just feels like a firm vest – it's supportive and comforting,' she said. She's seen left five hours after she took off the corset and right with it on

Despite wearing the tiny garment every day, Sarah also vowed that she is able to eat and drink as normal 

She explained: 'The only change I've made is portion control. My calorie intake is the same, but the calories are spread out more evenly throughout the day'

She explained: 'The only change I've made to stay tightly corseted is in terms of portion control.

'My calorie intake is the same, but the calories are spread out more evenly throughout the day.

'I'll eat a small dinner so that I can sleep comfortably in the corset. Consequently, I eat more at breakfast and more snacks than I used to.

'It requires patience and self-discipline. Holding myself to a challenge is something I value in and of itself.'

At the time, she also said her doctor told her that the habit was not 'affecting her organs.'

'I asked him to look over the results of my annual blood panels going back to before I started corseting and everything was normal, there was no change from before corsets to after,' she stated.