OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 22

( Women’s Health )

THE DANGERS OF
SHAPEWEAR
Your slim silhouette could be costing you,
warns The Chiropractors Association of
Australia (NSW).

here’s no doubt about it, Spanx
and other shapewear are
extremely flattering garments for pulling
everything in when you’re wearing that
slinky dress. But chiropractors are
warning that prolonged use could be
detrimental to your health.
President of the Chiropractors’
Association Of Australia (NSW), Dr
Joseph Ierano is concerned about the
health
ramifications
of
wearing
shapewear. ‘Wearing Spanx and other
such garments can encourage muscles to
stop doing their job. Muscles should be
encouraged to work, not remain “lazy”.’
According to Ierano, prolonged use of
shapewear may cause muscle weakness
– and worse – for those who wear them.
‘Muscle should be built up through good
habits of mobility and exercise rather

T

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JUNE 2014 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

than an external item of clothing. And
when it comes to spinal and joint
function, we need free movement and
lack of restriction for the body to move
normally. Abnormally forcing the body
into a conformity may create more
problems, such as those associated with
retracted
mobility
and
masking
undiagnosed
conditions
causing
underlying problems,’ he says.
The Chiropractors’ Association of
Australia (NSW) advises if you are going
to use shapewear, they should be done
under the following guidelines:
1. Ensure you are wearing the right size
and it’s not inhibiting areas that need
to move. No clothing should ever be
excessively tight.
2. Try to only use shapewear on special
occasions.

3. Do not exercise or overexert yourself
for

long

shapewear,

periods
as

while

wearing

can

restrict

it

circulation.
4. Do not substitute these slimming
garments for a sound weight loss/
muscle toning program.
The bottom line is, no matter what
Trinny and Susannah say, shapewear
should only be used for special occasions,
when you really need to squeeze yourself
into something slim‐fitting. It’s a nice
thought that rather than hitting the gym
and eating well we could just suck those
annoying extra kilos into some shapewear,
but no amount of ‘looking good’ is worth
ongoing health problems.