Your Spanx Might Be Damaging Your Internal Organs

If you wear Spanx or any kind of "shapewear", you might want to rethink your priorities. A new report states that wearing the tight-fitting clothing could be doing some serious damage to your insides.

The Huffington Post spoke to a gastroenterologist, a dermatologist, and a chiropractor about problems that can be caused by shapewear and the answers they had were a little alarming. Some of the side effects they mentioned:

• Compressing your internal organs
• Affecting your digestion
• Causing shallow breathing
• Worsen conditions for those who suffer from functional bowel disorders and irritable bowel syndrome
• Meralgia Paresthetica (compressed thigh nerve)
• Ruining your posture

These can lead to other bad things like making your acid reflux worse, causing erosive esophagitis, abdominal discomfort, bloating, gas, incontinence, tingling and numbness in extremities, varicose veins, lymph congestion (swollen ankles), and predisposes wearers to yeast and bacterial infections.

So, basically that laundry list of side-affects is what could be waiting for you if you can't live without your Spanx hiding a few of the pounds you've put on.

Click here to read more of the Huffington Post report.

Your vanity may be trying to kill you, or at least make your visits to the restroom slightly uncomfortable.

As in most things in life though, moderation is key. One of the doctors they talked to did mention that wearing them once in a while shouldn't be a problem, just wearing them all the time.

Everyone I know owns shapewear -- it's kind of a miracle...But I think we want to be mindful to not wear it on a day-in and day-out basis...It's not a problem if you wear it for an evening or a special occasion, but it's not a good idea to wear it daily and sit in it for hours on end.

So, there you go. shapewear is bad for you...if you wear it too often. Looks like we'll have to go back to diet and exercise to erase our unwanted bulges on a regular basis.

I've never put any kind of shapewear on, but after listening to this woman's description of a 'spanx blowout' I'm pretty sure I never will.  Ha ha.

[Huffington Post]