They say beauty is pain, but some of your favorite wardrobe items like skinny jeans, heels and oversized bags could cause more back pain than you realize.
A new study by the British Chiropractic Association polled 1,064 women ,and nearly three-fourths of those women reported back pain from fashion items.
One local chiropractor has seen this issue far too many times.
“We see that all the time, pretty much on a daily basis, actually,” Dr. Craig Hennie of Homberg Chiropractic said. “Heels are really bad, they’re really hard on the back. Backpacks are the norm for students, they should never really weigh more than five or 10 percent of your body weight.”
When clothes get too tight, like skinny jeans might, Dr. Hennie said they can alter the way people walk and lift things. That ultimately results in wear and tear on our bodies.
“We have seen a couple people come in who have had some vein issues from skinny jeans, where they were so tight that the blood didn’t come back up out of their legs,” Dr. Hennie said.
If eliminating the super skinny jeans from your wardrobe is not an option, Dr. Hennie said he believes good calf muscles and proper stretches can help minimize the damage they cause.
“Make sure you keep your calves really well-stretched because when you’re in heels, your calf muscles aren’t stretched out all the way. One of the worst things we see is when someone comes in, and they wear heels all the time, and they can’t even put both feet flat on the floor because the muscles in their calves are so short,” Dr. Hennie said.
It might be hard to give up the heels, skinny jeans and the big purses, but it could be better for your health in the long run.
