Could your clothes and accessories be to blame for some of your common ailments, like digestive issues or headaches? Believe it or not, apparel and accessories – shoes, handbags and ties – that are too tight, too loose, too heavy or too high can all create health issues!
Take a look at some of the culprits:
Body shapers (Spanx, Control-Top Pantyhose): If worn for too long and too often, Spanx and other body-tamers can cause both nerve compression and digestive issues, not to mention painful welts where fabric ends and flesh begins. They are made for smoothing out lumps and bumps – not sucking you in to the point of crushing your insides!
Skinny Jeans: Squeezing into painted-on skinny jeans can cause nerve compression and interfere with digestion, as the Archives of Internal Medicine noted in 1993. Ten years later, jeans are tighter than ever! Tight styles have also been blamed for lower back pain, yeast infections in women and a rare condition called lipoatrophia semicircularis, in which horizontal lesions appear around the thighs. If you live in your skinny jeans, venture out and try a new pair of flare-legged jeans or boyfriend jeans, depending on your body type! See a guide here.
Tight Shirts and Ties: Too tight shirt collars and neckties can reduce circulation to the brain and increase intraocular pressure, a risk factor for glaucoma! It can also cause headaches, blurred vision and tingling near the ears. And it’s more common than you would think – 67% of men buy shirts that are smaller than their necks, according to a Cornell University study. That’s not all – since ties aren’t cleaned nearly as often as other garments, neckties can transmit infections. So keep them clean and loosen it up!
Undergarments: This is for men and women. Finding the right size bra can be a pain, but if you’re wearing the wrong size you may literally be in pain. 75% of women wear the wrong size, which can cause breast pain and back strain if too big, or cut into the flesh and cause welts if it’s too tight. Men should stear clear of tight bike shorts unless they have to – they can reduce sperm production!
High Heels: Shoes with a heel of two inches or higher have been linked to bunions, hammer toes, stress factures and ankle sprains, in addition to “pump bumps” (bony protrusions on the back of heels), Morton’s neuroma (an injury to the nerve between the toes) and Freiberg infraction (in which some foot bones die due to lack of circulation). And after years of wearing high heels, some find that their Achilles tendons shorten!
Flats: Flats aren’t great either. In fact, some experts say flip flops are the worst kind of shoes for your feet. Any shoes without arch support can lead to plantar fasciitis, and flip flops cause people to clench their toes, leading to foot fatigue, sore calf muscles and an altered gait. That may not seem so bad, but it can all lead to long-term ankle and hip problems – much more serious problems.
Handbags: Sure, oversized handbags are great for carrying everything you need on a daily basis, but all that stuff adds up, and the heavy weight can actually throw your back out of line. The American Chiropractic Association recommends that women keep their bag at 10% or less of their body weight.
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