Low Waist Pants

Serious health problems associated with Low-rise pants /jeans

Prasad came with low abdomen pain; investigations revealed that he has small inguinal hernia. Similar cases reported, the low waist pant-wearing could be one of the causes. Low-rise pants / jeans, worn by both men and women mostly youth. These are intended to sit low on, or below, the hips. They are also called low-cut jeans, hipsters, hip-huggers and low-riders. Usually they sit at least 8 centimeters (3 inches) lower than the belly button. Low-rise jeans have existed since the 1960s, but regained popularity in the 1990s and 2000s.
How low?
Several jeans brands also reflect the rise on the zipper, by creating pants with zippers far shorter than regular pants, usually between 5 and 7 cm (2-3 inches), and some manufacturers, such as Dorinha Jeans Wear, even provide 2.5 cm (1 inch) zippers. The latter can also be classified as "ultra low-rise jeans", and the small zipper no longer has its traditional function, but rather becomes a display of fashion: an additional marking of the jeans' low-rise nature.
History
1960s and 1970s hip-huggers: Hip-huggers, the precursor to low-rise jeans, rose to popularity during the late 1960s, with the ascendance of the hippie counterculture and psychedelic music. Often worn with light-cotton, paisley-printed tops or Nehru-collared jackets, bell-bottomed hip-huggers were popularized by rock icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Robert Plant. Later, hip-huggers became a staple of popular culture and were incorporated into the disco scene of the 1970s.
During the early 1980s, however, waistlines moved higher as wide, flared, bell-bottoms gradually gave way to designer straight-legged jeans. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, as more women entered the corporate workforce, the high waist design remained predominant, with commercial designers such as Gloria Vanderbilt and Calvin Klein at the forefront.
1990s and 2000s revival: The revival of low-rise jeans can be credited to British designer Alexander McQueen, who first showed his famous low-rise "bumster" trousers in his 1996 "Dante" collection show, with Kate Moss and others modeling the bumsters. In America the fashion emerged five years later in 2001, particularly among girls and boys between the age of 14 and 23, and here Britney Spears is most credited with popularizing the fashion after she started wearing it in 2000.

Currently, low-rise jeans are manufactured in many styles, and though tight jeans are usually the most popular, they also exist in loose, baggy, flare and destroyed style. Low-rise jeans may be worn to display more skin at the waist, torso, and hips. Accordingly, they are sometimes worn in combination with shorter crop tops, giving a glimpse of skin between the jeans and the top, or more commonly in the summer or in warmer countries showing their entire midriff including the belly button. Low-rise jeans may also partially reveal the buttocks when the wearer sits down or bends over. In many cases, cleavage becomes visible. Because underwear was no longer always hidden, more men and women choose their underwear to function with their low-rise jeans.

Legal matters: Legislator Derrick Shepherd of the state of Louisiana in the USA made an attempt in 2004 to outlaw the fashion of low-rise jeans, particularly to bring a halt to the display of underwear under the pants, claiming it to be disrespectful and obscene. People spotted with their "whale tail" or "boxers showing" would be fined $500. The bill, HB 1703, was rejected by the Louisiana House of Representatives. Similar bill was attempted in Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA, charging a $50 fine for anyone deliberately showing their underwear. The bill was rejected in February 2005. School dress codes sometimes also banned pants of too low a rise, or visible underwear.

Medical concerns: Constant wearing of low rise jeans without tight waist line increases the risk for hernias and hydroceole, which need surgery at some stage of life. There are certain weak points in the lower margin of abdominal wall where abdomen meets the pelvis. Due to poor fitness, poor support of abdominal muscles and anything which can raise the intra-abdominal pressure leads to entry of some abdominal part such as part of intestine in to groin or into hip region and can develop in to hernia. Obese children are at highest risk for these problems. I recall my karate teachers saying “waist line should be always tight, hence you tie your belt tight” to save you from problems was distinctly clear. Dance teachers and sports coaches always warned students about tight waistline with good belt / sash. At least 2 % of youth have mild Hydroceole or hernia especially in boys. About 98.5 % of students of both sexes wear low-rise pants and only support they have is from colored underwear. At least 4-5% of students suffer from unexplained neuralgia on their thighs sometimes they are treated for back pain without benefit. Difficulty in sitting and traveling walking is reflected by their gestures “pulling pants up”. I have noticed the difficulty in reversing their habit to waist line pants; they find the pant on waistline is very stuffy and tight. Few have reported with contact dermatitis / hardening of skin on sides of the hip due to rubbing of pants.

In the Canadian Medical Association Journal 2003, Dr. Malvinder S. Parmar pointed out that wearing tight low-rise jeans may put pressure on a sensory nerve, the lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh, which can cause pain and paresthesia in the nerve's area of distribution. This is known as Meralgia paresthetica and is associated with a tingling or a burning sensation on the lateral aspect of the thigh. The condition was diagnosed in three mildly obese women who had worn low-rise jeans for 6–8 months. The condition resolved itself after they avoided wearing low-rise jeans for 4–6 weeks. I advice youth should slowly start wearing waist length pants, do regular exercise, all sports active persons must have a tight waste line with belt and also use supporters to prevent Hydroceole; no replacement for regular exercise.

Prof Dr S Bakhtiar Choudhary MD Sports Medicine, Tel: 9849136940