Skinny Jeans Aren't the Problem

The headlines screech, “Wearing Skinny Jeans Could Lead to Permanent Nerve Damage”, “Could too-tight jeans land you in the hospital?”, “Welp, Skinny Jeans Can Cause Severe Nerve Damage”.

No, no, no, no, no. These headlines, like so many these days, are hyperbolic click bait. I’m not even linking to them. Just do a search for “skinny jeans nerve damage” if you want to read one of the articles. The TL:DR version is that a lady who happened to be wearing skinnies squatted for a long time while helping a friend move. She developed compartment syndrome and was hospitalized for four days before regaining function of her legs and feet. Skinny jeans may have exacerbated the situation, but the cause of the nerve damage was assuming a squat for an unusually long period of time, not the wearing of tight pants. And lest the next headline scream, “Squatting causes nerve damage!” let me just go ahead and say, “No, no, no, no, no…except when it does.”

You know the expression “weekend warriors”? It’s used to describe people who exert themselves to the extreme on the weekend. Extreme is relative, of course, but if you have a typical 9-5 and you sit most of that time, 3 hours of heavy yard work counts as “weekend warrior” activity levels. A long-haul bike trip without proper training leading up to it counts. A steep and/or long hike counts. Yoga instructors like me, and our colleagues in other wellness modalities such as massage therapy, often see weekend warriors early the next week. They’re the ones hobbling in on a sore ankle, strained hamstrings, or suddenly very achy back. Their bodies were not prepared for the stress – albeit in the name of fun – that they experienced over the weekend, and are now signaling their need for TLC.

It is reasonable to assume that this unfortunate woman put her body through the  postural equivalent of a weekend warrior experience. Most Westerners don’t squat very often, if at all. Squatting is a great activity and a natural resting position in many cultures. If you come from a sitting culture and rarely squat, however, you need to work up to deep, weight-bearing, and/or long squats. There can be a lot of compression in the hips, knees, and ankles even in a properly executed squat. Alignment, as always, is crucial to the long-term availability of this posture (knees and feet, I’m lookin’ at you!). Hunching over in a squat for an afternoon while you weed the garden or clean out cupboards is asking a lot from your body. Even if your body is very “fluent” in squatting, it’s always advisable to take posture breaks from any position you’ve been in for a long time.

How can you safely wear your skinny jeans and help a friend move? Here are a few tips:

• Change your position a lot.
• Take breaks to stand up and stretch.
• Slide a yoga block under your bum so that your weight isn’t hanging, causing even more compression in your knees.
• Alternate squats with kneeling.
• Take a walk around the house every half hour or so to get the blood and lymph flowing.

 Now get out there are prepare for your weekend!