Skinny Jeans and High Heels: Health Dangers

**leo** · 24th February 2012

Skinny Jeans and High Heels: Health Dangers

February 23, 2012

High fashion has a cost — and it’s not just on the price tag. Sky-high stilettos and skin-tight jeans may actually jeopardize your health, say experts who cite various health conditions, from bacterial infections to leg numbness, as evidence of the hazards of being fashion forward.

Fashion culprit: Tight jeans

Health risk: Squeezing into tight pants (or cinching belts too tight) can cause nerve compression, numbness and digestive issues. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, internist Dr. Octavio Bessa of Stamford, Conn., coined the term “tight pants syndrome” in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1993, after seeing many patients with abdominal discomfort, distention and heartburn due to ill-fitting clothes.

Fashion culprit: Stilettos

Health risk: The narrow toe box and high heels of stiletto shoes wreak a lot of havoc, including bunions, hammer toes, nerve damage, bone death, stress fractures and ankle sprains.

Fashion culprit: Neckties

Health risk: Tight ties and shirt collars (67% of men buy shirts that are too small at the neck) can cut off circulation to the head, causing blurry vision, headache and tingly ears, the Wall Street Journal reports. They can also limit neck movement and increase muscle tension in the back and shoulders. Worse yet, since ties aren’t washed as frequently as other clothing, they may be laden with disease-causing germs.

Fashion culprit: Earrings

Health risk: The Wall Street Journal reports that about 20% of body piercings develop a bacterial infection, according to a review by Northwestern University dermatologists. Also, any jewelry or accessory that contains nickel — even in tiny amounts — can cause rashes in people with nickel allergy.

Skinny Jeans and High Heels: What Health Dangers Lurk in Your Closet? | Healthland | TIME.com