Do hip-huggers get on your nerves? You aren't alone, doctor says
By The Globe and Mail

Toronto - Those snug, hip-hugging pants popularized by Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears may be doing more than accentuating the thighs of those brave - or foolhardy - enough to wear them.

An Ontario doctor has discovered that the tight, low-rise trousers can be added to history's long list of fashion health hazards. Three times in the last year, Dr. Malvinder Parmar came across cases in which hip-huggers compressed important nerve routes and produced "paresthesia" - a burning, tingling sensation.

While the nerve damage does not appear to be serious, or permanent, the symptoms may last if the pants are worn regularly, said Parmar, medical director at the Timmins and District Hospital in Timmins, Ont.

"These hip-huggers are a recent fashion trend and they belt up right at the hip-bone area," said Parmar, who identified the britches' downside in a letter to this week's Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The lateral femoral cutaneous nerve runs under both sides of the hip bone and is literally squashed by the hip band of the pants, producing "meralgia paresthetica," or burning, tingling thighs.

"People who suffer these symptoms should not wear these tight pants," he said.

The three women - between 22 and 35 - who turned up in Parmar's office had been bewildered by the unusual sensations in their upper thighs.

At first, the doctor could detect nothing unusual in their physical examinations. The only sign of nerve irritation was mild tenderness near the spine in two of the patients.

One woman was concerned that she had multiple sclerosis and requested an MRI.

When Parmar considered what these women had in common, he realized they were all somewhat overweight and partial to the tight, hip-hugging pants.

To test his theory that the pants were to blame, he advised the women to don loose-fitting dresses.

Their symptoms disappeared after four to six weeks.

Meralgia paresthetica has also been linked to obesity, car seat belts, sitting with crossed legs for extended periods of time and wearing tight corsets or heavy tool belts.

Some patients have also reported pain after routinely wedging their wallets into pants pockets.