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Everything In Your Closet Is Killing You, Says Science
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 21, 2012
Modified Feb 21, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 21, 2012
Modified Feb 21, 2012
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As if you weren't destroying your body enough by simply sitting all day, are you really going to go ahead and wear those tight jeans while you do it? A few years ago, the dangers of skinny jeans were brought up when the Today show did a segment on "tingling thigh syndrome," and gave a whole new meaning to the term "fashion victim." Well it turns out, unsurprisingly, that skinny jeans aren't the only thing in your closet that can damage your body. According to the Wall Street Journal, so can belts, neck ties, body shapers like Spanx, shoes (including flip flops), bike shorts, and everything. But this doesn't mean you have to join a nudist colony—just be a little looser when you get dressed in the morning, or try to get your office to institute a Casual Sweatpants Friday.
One Brooklyn woman told the WSJ that she had numbness in her leg, and after some testing, the neurologist determined it was from her tight belts. He told her "they can compress a major nerve, the lateral, femoral cutaneous nerve, that runs from the abdomen to the outer thigh... Anything that puts pressure on that nerve can cause it. It's very, very common." If you feel any numbness in your body, your best bet is to head to the neurologist.
Men aren't safe, either. Tight shirt collars and ties can cause "headaches, blurred vision or tingling around the ears... [and] can reduce circulation to the brain and increase intraocular pressure, a risk factor for glaucoma, experts warn. Tight ties can also decrease range of motion in the neck and increase muscle tension in the back and shoulders." In other words, Hipster Cop is screwed.
What else in your closet is trying to slowly murder you? Tune in at 11.
Tagged
fashion
fashion victim
science says
tight clothes
tingling
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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