A MUST-have fashion trend designed to make legs look great has left a woman unable to walk, in an Adelaide medical emergency caused by skin-tight jeans.

The woman was left paralysed in an Adelaide park at night for several hours in the case, documented today in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry under the heading “Fashion Victim”.

The 35-year-old woman’s “skinny jeans” were blamed for her collapse, after she eventually managed to drag herself to a road and flag down a taxi, which rushed her to the Royal Adelaide Hospital — where the vice-like denim had to be cut off her swollen calves.

Squatting in the skinny jeans for a protracted time had damaged muscles and nerve fibres in her legs.

The paper’s authors, Associate Professor Thomas Kimber, Dr Karmen Wai and Professor Philip Thompson of the RAH, said the woman who arrived with severe weakness in both ankles and legs after her horror night.

Assoc Prof Kimber said the woman’s lower legs were massively swollen and she risked permanent nerve and muscle damage if she had not received treatment.

“Without medical treatment she may have ended up with permanent nerve damage affecting her ability to walk, and the muscle damage could have led to kidney damage but fortunately she was treated in time,” he said.

The previous day, the woman had spent hours squatting while emptying cupboards helping a relative move house.

She had been wearing tight skinny jeans and recalled that they had felt increasingly tight and uncomfortable as the day wore on.

media_camera Mikaela Harris, Anastasia Charova and Kate Thompson in their skinny jeans in King William Street Pic: Calum Robertson

While walking home that evening through a park, numbness in her feet made it difficult to walk, causing her to trip and fall. Unable to get up, she spent several hours lying helpless on the ground before managing to crawl to the roadside.

Investigations revealed she had damaged muscle and nerve fibres as a result of prolonged compression while squatting in the jeans.

The jeans had caused compartment syndrome — reduced blood supply to the leg muscles — causing swelling of the muscles and compression of adjacent nerves.

She was put on an intravenous drip and spent four days in hospital, including two days unable to walk, but recovered to a point she walked unaided when she was discharged.

The journal article notes the case ‘`represents a new neurological complication of wearing tight jeans’’.

The incident occurred six months ago and the woman, who now lives interstate, declined requests for interviews.

Assoc Prof Kimber said it was fortunate she had not suffered permanent damage.

“My message is for people to avoid squatting for long periods while wearing skinny jeans. If you have to squat, wear loose-fitting clothing,” he said.

“If you do find yourself having to squat in skinny jeans and start feeling a tingling sensation in your legs, have a break and walk around.”

University of Adelaide health science student Mikaela Harris, 18, of Pasadena, said she wore skinny jeans because they were fashionable, but used common sense when buying them.

“If I can’t fit in to the jeans first time, I will walk out,” she said.

Her friends, Flinders University criminology student Kate Thompson, 18, of Hawthorn, and Adelaide University psychology student Anastasia Charova, 18, of Warradale, also love the skinny-jeans look.

Asked if she was concerned about them being a health risk, Ms Thomas said that wearers should “pay attention to their body”.

“If you feel they are too tight, don’t keep wearing them,” she said.

— with Anna Vlach

brad.crouch@news.com.au