Doctors warn the public about the possible damage and health hazards that wearing skinny jeans may cause to the muscles and nerves in the legs. Experts particularly identify prolonged squatting while wearing skinny jeans as a major practice that can result in impaired sensation in the legs, feet and toes.
A medical history report released on Monday, June 22, discusses the case of a 35-year-old woman from Australia, who suffered from debilitating weakness and numbness in her feet that disabled her to get up and walk after falling to the ground. She could not move her lower extremities due to loss of sensation and had to lie down on the ground for several hours before she was discovered.
The report, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, states that the woman was brought and subsequently admitted at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where diagnostic examinations were performed. Upon initial assessment, the patient was found to have edematous calves that the hospital staff had to cut her skinny jeans off of her. Medical investigations reveal that the unidentified woman suffered from damaged muscles and nerve fibers in her lower legs.
Prior to the incident, the woman helped a family member, who is moving to a new house. The patient spent hours squatting, emptying cupboards and doing all sorts of activities that might have compressed her lower legs. The condition was aggravated because she was wearing tight-fitting jeans that further added to the pressure exerted on her muscles and nerves.
The patient recalled that she felt her jeans grow tight and become increasingly uncomfortable as the day went by.
"The case represents a new neurological complication of wearing tight jeans," says associate Professor Thomas Kimber, from the Royal Adelaide Hospital Department of Medicine. The patient was administered with intravenous fluids and after 4 days of hospital admission, she was discharged, ambulatory.
The doctors said the patient suffered from compartment syndrome, which is a medical condition that is characterized by impeded blood flow to the muscles of the legs, resulting in swelling of the muscles and constriction of the proximal nerves. The clinical manifestations of this syndrome include severe pain that persists despite taking medications and raising the affected leg.
If compartment syndrome advances, the patient may experience pale skin and tingling, numbness, increasing pain and weakness of the affected areas. If not diagnosed promptly or if the compression lasts for 12 hours to 24 hours, the patient may suffer from permanent nerve damage and cessation of muscle function. These complications are more common in patients who are unconscious and have communication problems as they cannot express feelings of pain.
Photo: Gareth Williams | Flickr
