Skinny jeans might be bad for your health despite the fact that they help you look slimmer and are the perfect partners for tees.
According to a case study, the skinny jeans that have been quite popular among younger people and have literally dominated the market for years, may damage the wearer's nerves.
In the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, researchers from Australia detailed the case of a woman who experienced nerve damage that was severe enough to cause numbness and hospital care after a day of wearing skinny jeans, Time noted.
The 35-year-old woman was helping a relative move, thus spending most of the day squatting while packing. She felt her jeans get increasingly tight, until while walking home in the evening, her feet went totally numb and she eventually fell.
Dr. Thomas Kimber, consultant neurologist and co-author of the Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry journal article said, "As it was by this time dark and late in the day, no one noticed her fall and she was lying there for some time - several hours."
After spending several hours on the ground because she was not able to get up, she was finally taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Her legs and ankles had swollen to the extent where the staff had to cut her jeans off in the emergency room. While her ankles and toes were weak, the rest of her legs including her knees and hips were working fine.
"We were certainly surprised and shocked. It was a surprise to us that someone could get such severe nerve and muscle damage from the activity she described. The clothing she was wearing was the critical factor," Dr Kimber, an associate professor at the University of Adelaide said.
While studying how her leg nerves were functioning, the doctors found blockage of the nerve that directs the lower leg and feet. The doctors state that any compression of the area just under knee can not only squeeze this nerve but also cause weakness, numbness, pain or even damage this nerve.
In her case, the doctors noted that the squatting probably quashed the nerves feeding into each leg, and the skinny jeans did not help when the swelling started, further crushing and constricting the nerves.
After spending four days in the hospital with IV hydration, the bloating finally went down and the woman was able to walk again on her own.
Dr Kimber states that this sort of injury is not normal and only occurs if someone wearing these skinny jeans squats for a lengthy amount of time, according to reports from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Kimber said, "The take home message is to avoid wearing skinny jeans if you intend to do a job with squatting or kneeling. If your legs begin to feel uncomfortable or tingle, you should stand up and get the blood circulating again."
