Fashion Hazard: Skinny Jeans May Damage Nerves in Lower Legs, New Study Reveals

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Skinny jeans may be slimming and trendy right now but wearing them may cause some health problems.

A case study published by Australian researchers from the University of Adelaide tells a curious case of a 35-year-old Australian woman who severely damaged her legs while wearing skinny jeans, leading her to lose her ability to walk normally.

Doctors found that the woman damaged her nerve fibres and muscles in her lower legs as a result of wearing skinny pants and compression while squatting. She was diagnosed with Compartment Syndrome, a condition where pressure builds up inside a confined space of the body and reduces blood supply to the compressed area.

According to WebMD, this is especially common in the legs, arms and abdomen. Common symptoms of this condition include pins-and-needles sensation, numbness, swelling, tightness, bruising and pain.

The unnamed woman was helping a relative move house so she spent the day squatting while wearing the tight pants. After several hours, she felt her jeans become tight and uncomfortable.

Later in the evening while walking home, she experienced numbness in her feet which made her trip and fell. Unable to get up, she spent several hours on the ground before she was found and was subsequently rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, according to Time.

While in the hospital, doctors discovered that that woman's calves were very swollen that her jeans had to be cut off of her legs to give her ankles and toes better circulation. While studying the woman's legs, doctors found nerve blockage in the connection of the lower leg and feet. According to Time, any compression in this part specifically, under the knee, can cause pain, numbness and weakness in the legs.

"We believe it was the combination of squatting and tight jeans that caused the problem," the doctor who treated the woman, Dr. Thomas Kimber, of the Royal Adelaide Hospital, told Live Science. The woman was put on intravenous drip and was able to walk on her own four days after the bloating in her legs went down.

Dr. Kimber added that wearing skinny jeans is safe, but she warns that people should not be squatting for prolonged periods when wearing them. If a wearer feels any discomfort or numbness from wearing skinny jeans, he advises that they should stand up and walk around.

The case was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, & Psychiatry on Monday