Shapewear is a lifesaver for women who need a smooth silhouette under form-fitting garments. Skinny jeans and jeggings are still in style, and they offer the slimming illusion, too. But when you wear tight pants and shapewear, you might be getting more than you bargained for. It turns out you can be too skinny, and your health could pay the price. In a study published by Consumer Reports Health, “tight pants syndrome” was found to cause nerve damage, abdominal pain and perhaps exacerbated the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive conditions. OB/GYNs agree, saying tight garments can cause yeast infections, itching, discharge and pelvic pain. The case detailed in Consumer Reports detailed a 15-year-old girl, who, along with the rest of the girls on her school soccer team, wore tight-fitting Spanx under her soccer shorts. She complained of numbness, tingling and discomfort in her thigh and was diagnosed with a compressed nerve.

Meralgia paresthetica, the clinical name, usually shows up in pregnant or obese women. Some warning signs of suffering from “tight pants syndrome” are experiencing cramps outside of your period. Bloating and cramping can result from hampering the digestive system by compressing it with Spanx or other control garments. Numbness or tingling in the legs may signal a problem as well because too-tight clothing may inhibit circulation. Pass on the fad of tight-fitting compression garments built into fitness clothing. Companies like Under Armour sometimes build these snug pieces into their apparel under the guise that it improves performance – not so. There’s nothing wrong with feeling like you can jump higher or run longer, but it shouldn’t send you to the neurologist. Why not give those flared pants a try this spring?