martin_fierro
01-07-2003, 10:24 AM
Women who squeeze into tight hip-hugger jeans could be risking a painful medical condition, an Ontario doctor warns.
The low-rise jeans, which typically hang from the hips instead of the waist, can squeeze a sensory nerve under the hip bone and cause an intense tingling or burning sensation in a woman's thighs, said Malvinder S. Parmar, who practises in Timmins, Ont.
Dr. Parmar wrote to the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the condition to raise awareness about its possible cause after successively treating three young, slightly overweight women complaining of a painful tingling in their thighs last summer. All three said they had worn tight hip-huggers in the previous six to eight months.
The women's symptoms disappeared after Dr. Parmar suggested they push their hip-huggers to the back of their closets and wear loose dresses instead.
"Now that hip-huggers are back in fashion, physicians can expect to see more patients with tingly thighs," he writes.
"Simple observation of the patient's mode of dress may give a clue to the diagnosis and prevent unnecessary investigations."
Dr. Parmar, medical director of Timmins and District Hospital's medical program, fears a growing number of patients may request costly MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans if the hip-hugger trend continues because tingling can raise concerns about multiple sclerosis.
"This is not a life-threatening condition," he said in an interview, referring to the hip-hugger condition. "It's a nuisance. Patients may get unnecessarily worried about serious illness."
The condition, meralgia paresthetica, has also been linked to obesity, car seat belts, sitting with crossed legs for extended periods of time and wearing tight corsets or heavy tool belts. Some patients have also reported pain after routinely wedging their wallets into pants pockets.
Doctors first warned tight jeans may be another contributing factor in the early 1980s, but hip-huggers did not become popular until recently.
Dr. Parmar says he advises patients who have experienced pain to wear them sparingly, such as when they go out for a night on the town.
But Peter Duck, a professor at Ryerson University's school of fashion, expects many women will continue wearing the jeans everyday in spite of the pain they may experience.
"People will wear anything if they feel it's a fashion statement, whether it's going to hurt them or not," he said.
Women's fashion has a long history of being painful, he said, referring to the tight girdles women wore during the 1950s and the Chinese custom of women binding their feet -- even though it prevented many from walking.
The hip-hugger jean trend is on the wane, he added.
The low-rise jeans, which typically hang from the hips instead of the waist, can squeeze a sensory nerve under the hip bone and cause an intense tingling or burning sensation in a woman's thighs, said Malvinder S. Parmar, who practises in Timmins, Ont.
Dr. Parmar wrote to the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the condition to raise awareness about its possible cause after successively treating three young, slightly overweight women complaining of a painful tingling in their thighs last summer. All three said they had worn tight hip-huggers in the previous six to eight months.
The women's symptoms disappeared after Dr. Parmar suggested they push their hip-huggers to the back of their closets and wear loose dresses instead.
"Now that hip-huggers are back in fashion, physicians can expect to see more patients with tingly thighs," he writes.
"Simple observation of the patient's mode of dress may give a clue to the diagnosis and prevent unnecessary investigations."
Dr. Parmar, medical director of Timmins and District Hospital's medical program, fears a growing number of patients may request costly MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans if the hip-hugger trend continues because tingling can raise concerns about multiple sclerosis.
"This is not a life-threatening condition," he said in an interview, referring to the hip-hugger condition. "It's a nuisance. Patients may get unnecessarily worried about serious illness."
The condition, meralgia paresthetica, has also been linked to obesity, car seat belts, sitting with crossed legs for extended periods of time and wearing tight corsets or heavy tool belts. Some patients have also reported pain after routinely wedging their wallets into pants pockets.
Doctors first warned tight jeans may be another contributing factor in the early 1980s, but hip-huggers did not become popular until recently.
Dr. Parmar says he advises patients who have experienced pain to wear them sparingly, such as when they go out for a night on the town.
But Peter Duck, a professor at Ryerson University's school of fashion, expects many women will continue wearing the jeans everyday in spite of the pain they may experience.
"People will wear anything if they feel it's a fashion statement, whether it's going to hurt them or not," he said.
Women's fashion has a long history of being painful, he said, referring to the tight girdles women wore during the 1950s and the Chinese custom of women binding their feet -- even though it prevented many from walking.
The hip-hugger jean trend is on the wane, he added.