Rhabdomyolysis and neuropathies as a result of squatting in ‘skinny jeans’ | Hacker News Reader

Rhabdomyolysis and neuropathies as a result of squatting in ‘skinny jeans’

jnnp.bmj.com

29 pointsgreenyoda10 comments

I don't really understand why this article is here. The most interesting thing here is that the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychology is resorting to clickbait.

As an aside, from what I know about rhabdomyolysis, it's a condition that can appear when people who are very much sedentary perform very rigorous exercise. Though I don't know anything about this individual, I would suspect that the primary cause for this person was the fact that they helped the family member move for several hours, and that the skinny jeans part is really more of an aside.

> As an aside, from what I know about rhabdomyolysis, it's a condition that can appear when people who are very much sedentary perform very rigorous exercise.

From what I understand, it can also occur when people who are active and fit perform certain workouts (those which emphasize isometric exercises)x in excess.

This is arguably more dangerous and problematic, because it's not as well-known, and companies like Crossfit[0] have been criticized for simultaneously promoting it and failing to provide adequate warning.

[0] https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rhabdo%20crossfi...

Rhabdomyolysis has a very large variety of causes including extreme physical exercise especially exercising while dehydrated. It can occur in any sport or exercise program.

That's not the point of this article though. It seems they believe the injury was caused by prolonged squatting and was further exacerbated by compression from the jeans as the legs started to swell. The jeans had to be cut off. That's what I got from it anyways, it was difficult for me to get the jist because it was written in "medicalese."

"I don't really understand this article [...] I don't know anything about this issue [, but I think] that the primary cause was [something other than what the medically trained doctors who examined the patient published the paper suspected...]"

Indeed, rhabdomyolysis is commonly found in Army recruits and CrossFit athletes. But clearly the doctors had found evidence in this case!

There was a comment that I found particularly insightful a couple months ago about a disturbing trend in HN commenters posting when they had marginal knowledge on a subject, extrapolating often-incorrect data from their own knowledge base that looks good on its face, but falls flat under inspection. Please, resist this urge! It will make HN a better place for everyone.

Rhabdomyolysis can definitely result from overexhertion, but it's really just general kidney overload due to excessive muscle cell death (which elevates the levels of cytokines in the bloodstream.)

For example, rhabdomyolysis is also known as "crush syndrome." People with limbs trapped under heavy objects sometimes experience catastrophic kidney failure once the object is removed, as their kidneys are confronted with the enormous load of dead muscle tissue compounds.

see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_syndrome

source: lift weights and am pedant.

"Later that evening, while walking home, she noticed bilateral foot drop and foot numbness, which caused her to trip and fall. She spent several hours lying on the ground before she was found."

This last sentence raises a lot of questions if you think about it. We're talking about a presumably healthy 35 year old woman here. (At least, if she had any prior medical problems, the article does not see fit to mention it.) This woman experiences numbness of both feet and and an inability to lift her feet ("foot drop"). She falls. It makes sense so far.

But why does she lie on the ground for hours? She might not have been able to walk, but she should have been able to crawl - the article makes a point of mentioning that muscle power at knees and hips was normal. Was she unconscious, and if so, why? Was she in debilitating pain, and the article just doesn't mention it? Why didn't she take her jeans off once she noticed her legs swelling so much that her jeans were cutting off blood circulation to her leg muscles (which sounds pretty unpleasant!)?

I know this is just supposed to be a short summary, but it rises more questions than it answers.

The experts in the field of squatting will tell you that skinny jeans are the wrong attire. You should be squatting in Adidas track pants. Flat caps are optional.

WTBBQ? I pasted this into the Goog and the internet is full of people squatting in track pants and flat caps. Why are they doing that?

Squatting is a common posture when hanging out in certain cultures (notably, but not limited to, slavic countries), and it also turns out that there is a large overlap between these cultures and the cultures in which wearing track pants and flat caps is common everyday attire.

while you're there, answer the poll at the right sidebar!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com