8 reasons you should avoid wearing shapewear everyday
While shapewear can give you an hourglass figure, using it everyday can be hazardous to health, read here.
Written by Poorva Chavan|Published : January 21, 2015 5:44 PM IST
Shapewear and corsets enjoy a huge popularity in the West and are slowly appealing to women in India. Corsets and other shapewear like tummy tucking underwear are mainly targeted at women who want a perfect hourglass figure. Corsets have a long history, with first being used in the Victorian age and were then made of cotton, linen or fine material like satin wrapped around steel and later cane and plastic boning. Corsets and other shapewear have now evolved into breathable and stretchable one's and are made of elastic.
Shapewear and corsets compress the body, sculpting it into a particular shape. Although shapewear seems like something every woman should have in her drawer, it is important to know that using shapewear often can have severe ramifications on your health.
Hamper lung function: Corsets compress the lower lobes of your lungs, preventing them from expanding completely during breathing, which might hamper their functioning in long term.
Affect blood circulation: As the waist is constricted, the heart has to exert more pressure while pumping blood and this may lead to palpitations. Nowadays, shapewear is made from breathable fabrics and are not as tight as corsets, and hence may not affect blood circulation to a great extent.
Affect digestion: Shapewear tends to compress your stomach, colon and intestine. When pressure is exerted on intestines, movement of food in the intestines gets restricted and can affect digestion. Contracting the stomach may also cause acid reflux which can be followed by a heartburn.
Cause bloating and abdominal discomfort: When your stomach is constricted, the digestion of food gets hampered which results in bloating and also causes abdominal discomfort; the kind that you might experience when you are wearing tight jeans and eat a heavy meal. You may like to read 6 diet tips to prevent bloating.
Compress your bowel: Wearing shapewear affects bowel movement and may worsen the Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Pressure on your bladder: Wearing a corset or some kind of shapewear causes inconvenience while going to the bathroom and most women avoid it while wearing shapewear. This increases the pressure on the bladder causing stress incontinence and may lead to leakage.
Tingling or numbness in your legs: The tight elastic bands exert pressure on your thigh, compressing nerves and also limiting blood circulation that can lead to tingling and numbness in your legs. They can also elevate conditions of varicose veins in women who are genetically predisposed to them. Tingling or numbness has other causes like incorrect posture, diabetes, etc.
Make you more prone to infections: Shapewear is tight and tends to trap moisture within it, providing a hospitable environment for a host of bacteria, which might lead to skin rashes and other infections.
Keeping in mind so many complications that shapewear can cause, you should limit your use of shapewear and avoid using it daily.
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