Warning, wearers of close-fitting denim! A woman in Australia had to be “cut out” of her skinny jeans after suffering muscle and nerve damage.
After the 35-year-old spent all day squatting and working during a household move, her calves “ballooned in size,” according to a report in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. The problem—diagnosed as compartment syndrome—was exacerbated by her choice in jeans.
On the day prior to presentation, she had been helping a family member move house. This involved many hours of squatting while emptying cupboards. She had been wearing ‘skinny jeans’, and recalled that her jeans had felt increasingly tight and uncomfortable during the day. Later that evening, while walking home, she noticed bilateral foot drop and foot numbness, which caused her to trip and fall. She spent several hours lying on the ground before she was found.
… We postulate that, in the present case, the peroneal neuropathies were the result of compression between the biceps femoris tendon and fibular head as a result of squatting. The tibial neuropathies were likely caused by compression of the nerves in the posterior compartment of the calf by oedematous muscles that had undergone ischaemic myonecrosis as a result of squatting. The wearing of ‘skinny’ jeans had likely potentiated the tibial neuropathies by causing a compartment syndrome as the lower legs swelled.
It was four days before she could walk unaided, reports the BBC—just the latest example of meralgia paresthetica associated with tight clothing.
We present 12 cases that were diagnosed to have meralgia paresthetica due to tight new fashion low cut trousers (‘taille basse’). The diagnosis was confirmed by injecting a small amount of a short acting local anesthetic around the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve which alleviated the symptoms for several hours. Electrophysiologic studies were sensitive in 83.3% of the cases. All cases were treated successfully using conservative methods, namely avoiding tight trousers, local steroid infiltration and weight reduction.
The BBC, however, quoted physiotherapist Priya Dasoju as saying all you need to do is avoid becoming an “extreme” case: “There’s no need to ditch the skinny jeans just yet, simply avoid staying in the same position for too long and keep moving.”
While skinny jeans remain popular, hippie-style bellbottoms are coming back into vogue, providing a fashion escape route for anyone terrorized by painted-on selvedge. Experts note, however, that even severe neurological damage is no excuse for bootcut jeans.