The Hidden Dangers of Yoga Pants

Source: Getty Images
With yoga pants now more popular than denim and activewear sales reaching $48 billion in 2017, it’s safe to say we love our comfortable, elastic waist pants – and with good reason. Yoga pants are easy to throw on, give us a great shape and make us look like we’ve just hit the gym even when we haven’t! From work, to play there’s a yoga pant look for every occasion and while they may be a wardrobe fixture for many of us, the humble yoga pant does come with a few hidden dangers.
Ingrown Hairs
Ouch! There’s nothing more uncomfortable than an ingrown hair. This painful condition, which is medically known as folliculitis, happens when tight clothing rubs against your skin causing friction. Because yoga pants are tight, it’s possible to get an ingrown hair on your thighs, or even worse your nether-regions! According to the Mayo Clinic an ingrown hair will normally cure itself, but in extreme cases doctors can make an incision to release the hair. To help with the discomfort ingrown hairs cause, experts recommend applying compresses and say you should stop shaving, or waxing until the hair has grown out.
Yeast Infections
Tight clothing mixed with body sweat and moisture can cause an increase in fungus down below, which in some cases can lead to a yeast infection or vaginitis. To help avoid sweaty yoga pant syndrome change your yoga pants after a workout and avoid wearing undies made of synthetic materials with your yoga pants, which don’t allow your lady parts to breathe properly!
A Nasty Rash
Once again tight yoga pants can combine with natural body sweat to gift some yoga pant wearers a condition known as intertrigo. This is an inflammation in the form of a rash, which normally appears in moist body areas such as armpits, inner thighs and underneath boobs that don’t get much air circulation, so it only makes sense tight yoga pants can cause this on your inner thighs or bottom area. Tight yoga pants can also lead to butt acne – yuck!
According to NBC’s TODAY, there are several things we can do to avoid any of the above such as always showering and putting on clean clothes after a workout and avoiding wearing yoga pants for an extended amount of time. You can also try products formulated for gently cleaning down below. HealthyHooHoo is one such product, designed to keep the area clean using natural products.
“Women don’t realize their yoga pants are a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus,” HealthyHooHoo’s creator Stacy Lyon’s told Today. “The rule about sitting around in a wet swimsuit also applies to sweaty, tight-fitting leggings.”