5 fashion trends that can be bad for your health

One woman found out that the phrase “beauty is pain” is more than just a cliché after the skinny jeans she was wearing caused her to lose feeling in her legs.

The women had been helping a relative move, and doctors reported that the squatting had caused damage to nerves and muscles in her legs, Ariana Eunjung Cha reported for The Washington Post. After walking home through a park she collapsed and had to wait hours before being found and treated.

While the story does end well — the woman walked out of the hospital four days later — popular trends for both men and women can cause lasting health problems.

Here are four other trends you should watch out for to keep everyone in your family safe:

Flip flops

Everyone loves the ease of slipping on a pair of flip flops when running a quick errand or going to the store, but the popular shoe is less than ideal for your health on several levels.

The shoes can change your natural gait, cause tendinitis from gripping the shoes with your toes and harm the bones in your feet because the shoes don’t support them, according to The Huffington Post.

Not only do they cause muscle and bone problems, but the average flip flop has more than 18,000 bacteria on it, Laura T. Coffey reported for “Today.” The bacteria included Staphylococcus aureus and fecal matter.

High heels

While high heels have been a fashion trend for ages, the health effects might be worse than expected. Heels can cause calluses, hammertoes, bunions and plantar fasciitis, Barbara Stepko wrote for The Huffington Post.

The added height and weird foot position can also throw your entire alignment into disarray, she reported. To compensate, high-heeled wearing women lean back and throw extra strain on the lower back, hips and knees.

Ties and collared shirts

For men, a big culprit of fashion faux pas and health problems come from neckties and collared shirts.

If either is too tight around the neck, it can cause neck pain, decrease blood flow to the brain and increase the risk of getting glaucoma, Melinda Beck reported for The Wall Street Journal.

It’s not a small issue either. About 67 percent of men buy shirts that are too small in the neck, Beck wrote.

Heavy bags

While heavy backpacks can be a sign of a studious student, they also lead to chronic back pain that is entirely preventable but can damage the spine, Jane E. Brody reported for The New York Times.

Women tend to have this problem, too. Big purses may be a popular trend but the added carrying space can cause elbow, neck and back pain depending on how you carry your bag, Alyssa Shaffer wrote for Prevention.You can prevent this by carrying smaller bags, purses and backpacks. Also, switch up how you are carrying them to keep the pressure off one spot, Shaffer reported.