Skinny Jeans; Why They Could Spell Bad News For Raw Denim Lovers
Why Raw Denim Skinny Jeans Could Land You In Hospital
The “silly-season” is upon us; that time of the year when the news agenda wears a bit thin and journalists are struggling to fill airtime and column inches. That’s what we thought was at play when stories began to emerge of an Australian woman being hospitalised, all because her jeans were too tight.
It seems that skinny jeans can wreak havoc with the muscles and nerves of the lower leg. Doctors in Australia charted this serious neurological condition in which the patient had to spend four days in hospital after wearing them having been left partially paralysed. The story was even featured on the BBC’s usually sober Newsnight programme.
She suffered a tourniquet-effect, or Compartment Syndrome, and that is apparently what landed her in such hot water,
“We blame what happened on a combination of prolonged squatting for hours and the tight jeans she was wearing,” told Dr. Thomas Kimber – associate professor at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia – to CNN and added that if she hadn’t been able to get to the hospital, the compression could have gone on longer led to lasting nerve damage.
This Is Where It Gets Nasty
Women tend to wear lighter denim weights than men and, even in high summer, denimheads will wear heavier denims. Plus, raw denim aficionados are more likely to opt for a fabric with less elastane or elasticity woven in.
“In compartment syndrome there is higher pressure on closed, intact tissue which can compress blood circulation and nerves. This means that this tourniquet-effect can be exacerbated in men wearing skinny raw denim jeans, especially if they are still at the breaking-in stage,” Switzerland’s Dr. Frances Benbow, a neurologist, confirmed to Denimhunters. “If you’re going to drive or cycle for any real length of time, wearing a looser fit or even shorts would dramatically cut the risk of developing Compartment Syndrome.”
Skinny jeans might not be to every denimhead’s taste but there is no doubting that they have emerged from hipster-chic in to the world of mainstream fashion and have crossed-over in to the raw scene with many of the mills, including Cone Mills, producing weaves for tight cuts such as Williamsburg’s Skeleton Skinny.
Our advice – be a fashion victim all you like but just don’t let it bite your ankles!
Photo: RPMWEST unisex R | Denim line
