Although many fashion experts claim that “skinny jeans are dead”, many of us still wear them, or suffer from tight jeans due to weight gain. If it seems like your jeans are super tight these days, know that you’re not alone.
But take a cue from the side effects of wearing tight jeans outlined below to start shedding those extra pounds that make you feel tight in your pants and feel more comfortable and healthy.
1. Tight jeans and vaginal health
Are skinny jeans bad? Many doctors and researchers claim that vaginal health issues are more common complaints related to wearing jeans that are too tight. In 2019, researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health published a study that found that wearing tight jeans on a regular basis increased a woman’s risk of suffering from vulvodynia, a condition characterized by chronic pain in the external genital area of a woman.
Researchers looked at hygiene and trouser preference and found that:
– Women who wore tight jeans four or more times a week were twice as likely to suffer from vulvodynia as women who never wore tight pants.
– Women who chose to wax all of their pubic hair (as opposed to the bikini area) were 74% more likely to suffer from vulvodynia.
Apart from this, wearing tight jeans is also linked to:
– Bacterial vaginosis
– Vaginal irritation
– yeast infections.
Interestingly, some health experts believe that other factors are more likely to play a role in yeast infections, including things that increase the risk of candidiasis symptoms, such as taking high-dose antibiotics. spectrum. That’s not to say you have to take all your skinny jeans to the thrift store, but be sure to mix it up and wear looser, more breathable shorts, pants, and skirts to promote blood circulation. air and blood. Forget skinny jeans if you’re exercising, doing something that takes effort, or if it’s really hot outside.
2. Compartment syndrome and nerve damage
One of the most shocking side effects of wearing tight jeans concerns the case of an Australian woman in 2015. A day after repeatedly squatting while helping a family member pack for a moving, paramedics found the 35-year-old on the floor and had to cut her tight jeans. She spent four days in the hospital being treated for rhabdomyolysis and lower extremity neuropathy.
The combination of overexertion in a squatting position and super tight jeans caused nerve damage to the tibial and perineal nerves in the leg, as well as severe swelling. This caused a serious condition called compartment syndrome. Although it may seem like a joke, tight pants syndrome, also known as skinny jeans syndrome, is a real thing. It is clinically called meralgia paresthetica, and it involves entrapment of a nerve from the lateral cutaneous nerve that runs from the abdomen to the thigh.
This condition is characterized by tingling, numbness and/or burning sensation in the outer thigh area. In fact, it’s sometimes called “tingling thigh syndrome,” and it can be difficult to diagnose. Mainly caused by obesity and, yes, tight clothing, meralgia paresthetica also sometimes affects people with diabetes. It might be bad to wear pants that are tight around the waist when you’re pregnant, too. Research shows that pregnant women are at an increased risk of suffering from “tight jeans syndrome”.
Luckily, if it’s a clothing issue, wearing looser pants is usually a quick fix. In the long run, try to shed excess pounds to get into a healthier BMI range.
3. Fertility for men
Skinny jeans can be a bad idea for men who are actively trying to have children. A 2018 study published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology found that the type of clothing a man chooses to wear could impact reproductive health. For example, one study found that men who wear tight underwear and pants have impaired sperm quality compared to those who favor a looser fit. (Men who wear boxers, for example, have a 25% higher sperm concentration than those who wear tight underwear).
4. Joint problems and back pain
Wearing tight jeans can throw off the healthy rhythm between your lower back and hips, which negatively impacts your posture. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science found that wearing tight jeans causes your lower back to flex excessively, which can overstretch connective tissue, fascia and increase stress on your discs. The researchers concluded that “wearing tight pants could produce musculoskeletal disorders via abnormal movement and posture in the lumbar spine and pelvis. »
5. Abdominal pain and digestive health
Wearing jeans that are too tight can also make GERD symptoms and other hiatal hernia symptoms worse. Wearing a tight belt can increase pressure in the stomach and cause pain and acid reflux. And tight pants can do the same. It can especially get worse when you bend over in tight jeans. (In other words, don’t garden or exercise in tight jeans).
If not, what about blood clots? Although many headlines link tight jeans to blood clots, medical research hasn’t really proven the link. Still, there is limited evidence that tight-fitting clothing can cause problems. For example, a 2003 report in The Irish Medical Journal describes the case of a tiler who developed deep vein thrombosis while wearing tight knee braces. Although venous compression is an extremely rare cause of deep vein thrombosis, the researchers found that this prolonged compression of the popliteal vein – a main route of blood transport from the leg to the heart – was the cause of the clot.
So use common sense: if your jeans are so tight that they cause pain, numbness, tingling or burning, it’s time to find a looser pair. Why suffer?
