Skinny Jeans Fashionable but Unhealthy?

Photo used with permission by Hilary Hartley (c) 2007.

The latest craze to hit the Fleetwood area has been skinny jeans. From little kids to adults, skinny jeans are the latest and greatest thing to wear.

Sure they look good, but what are fashionable folks sacrificing for the sake of looking nice?  Rumors about health concerns involving skinny jeans have been circulating for some time now.

“[Skinny jeans causing health concerns] is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” FAHS senior Dan Milloy said.

Autumn Noll also disbelieves these allegations.

“Skinny jeans on girls don’t do anything other than look good.”

Even Fleetwood’s own nurse, Leanne Nelson, did not acknowledge any sort of health hazard regarding skinny jeans and those who wear them frequently.

“Personally, I have not heard of anything about that,” Nelson said.

So what exactly is the truth regarding Fleetwoodians and their skinny jeans? School nurse Bonnie Fansler had something different to say on the matter.

“I used to think that skinny jeans led to sperm count problems because of constricting blood vessels if they were too tight.”

In reality, there are a few health concerns, with  “tingling thigh syndrome” being a culprit that has been mentioned within many doctors’ offices. In medical terms, “tingling thigh syndrome”, or meralgia paresthetica, is apparently caused when skinny jeans are just too tight and suppress the nerves sending feelings to the thigh.

“It makes sense based on the anatomy and physiology,” CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said. “We’re talking about a nerve that runs through the groin called the femoral cutaneous nerve, and with tight things, even tight jeans, it can become numb down the thighs and into the buttocks.”

Ashton even compared the nerve compression to a garden hose.

“If you step on it, and can’t get the water, the same thing [happens].”

All in all fellow, some health concerns involving skinny jeans may exist, but nothing  is certain enough to inspire paranoia.