As popular as skinny jeans are, they aren't something you want to wear too often. Dr. Karen Boyle from the Greater Baltimore Medical Center warns that people who wear tight-fitting jeans a lot may find themselves saddled with a condition called meralgia paresthetica, reports ABC2News.com.
According to Dr. Boyle, meralgia paresthetica is "a disorder that occurs when one of the nerves that runs in the outer part of a thigh gets compressed." It is characterized by numbness and pain in the upper legs. In one previous study, overweight women who habitually wore tight and low-rise pants over six to eight months found themselves feeling tingling sensations in their thighs. The good news, however, is that these women were able to reverse the situation by wearing more loose-fitting clothes for the next six weeks.
The same could not be said if the participants had continued to wear said jeans for a longer period. By then, the damage to the nerves may become more permanent. If you still want to look great but don’t want to risk anything, researchers recommend switching to pants made of more flexible material. Jeggings (jeans + leggings), for example, are a good substitute. Not only are they stylish, but they’re also comfortable enough for your nerves. And when you do get jeans, consider getting ones with some stretch in the fabric or with looser cuts, and make sure you get them in your correct size--no "this will fit me well when I'm thinner" rationalizations, please!
(Photo by Philip Bjerknes via Flickr Creative Commons)
