We sacrifice a lot for style, but who would have thought that it could be affecting our health?
The figures released from the British Osteopathic Association indicate the extent to which our love of fashion is impacting upon our health.
‘Dangerous’ items include hairbands, sunglasses, thongs, shoes – and even wallets, which when placed in front pockets can cause numbness in the thigh and groin.
The true extent to which modern fashions are leaving millions of us black and blue emerged from data published by the British Osteopathic Association.
Kelston Chorley, head of Professional Development at theBOA, commented on the findings:
”Patients are often surprised when it is pointed out to them that their bag, shoes or other items of clothing may be contributing to their presenting problem.
”People always want to look up to date and wear the current fashion. Even if it is not best suited physically to them they will ‘suffer and endure to look right’.
”Poor fitting bras are a common source of mid back pain, or pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders, often accompanied by headaches.
”Women with larger breasts need to ensure that they are well supported, with well-adjusted shoulder straps that off load and spread the weight from the back fastener.”
The research found half of us have experienced some kind of pain from a particular item of clothing- often from discomfort in their neck, back or shoulders from regularly carrying a heavy bag, with four in ten women blaming their heavy handbag.
Underwear is also a surprising issue- as many as six in ten women have been affected by wearing a bra that didn’t fit well, causing them pain, while a further one in five has also experienced friction injuries from wearing thongs.
One in ten blokes has suffered numbness in their groin area as a result of carrying a wallet while wearing jeans that didn’t allow enough room, while one in five have suffered painful ‘joggers’ nipple’ – rubbing or chaffing under their shirt.
One in eight men and women said they’ve experienced headaches from a hat they didn’t realise was too tight, and a fifth has endured pain from sunglasses causing pressure around their head.
The BOA also warned of the dangers of footwear- ballet pumps are almost as dangerous as high heels for encouraging flat-footed walking, while flip flops can result in claw toe, toe pain/rigid toes and Hallux limitus.
British Osteopathic Association member Hector Wells said:
”Our clinics see tens of thousands of people coming in complaining of aches and pains which, on further examination, are found to originate from their clothing.
”The classic is the ‘wallet back’, when the pelvis sits on the wallet and overtime the back twists.
”In principle clothes have to be unrestrictive, otherwise these range of motion of the person will be reduced, if they have to run, or stretch then this will alter the body movements, like unwanted strapping, and will cause pulls in the wrong places.
”The most common is tight blouse and bras, which can cause ribs to pop when rotating, when parking or reaching to the back of the car from the driving seat.”