Tightpants = pain

May 3, 2010 6:09 AM

Why did I get sharp shooting pain in my stomach all day after wearing tight pants?

I recently went to a yoga class and wore some sweat pants with a 4" conforming band at the top. I then wore these pants all day after the class. That night I started to feel a sharp, shooting pain on my left lower side that I thought might have been a UTI. I then changed into loose pants, but it still hurt for more than 15 hours. I know for sure that the pain was from those tight pants, but my question is specifically what caused the shooting pain? Was my bladder or ureter scrunched up against some other body part?

posted by bunny hugger to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Why are you sure that the pain was from the tight pants?
posted by box at 6:10 AM on May 3, 2010

Because i don't have a UTI and it's gone now.
posted by bunny hugger at 6:14 AM on May 3, 2010

Gas? Did you poop during that time at all?
posted by Stewriffic at 6:19 AM on May 3, 2010

Sorry, that was unnecessarily snarky. But honestly, there are so many things that could be causing you this pain, that blaming tight pants for it, and being sure that it was only due to the tight pants doesn't make any sense. If it's something that comes up again, get yourself to the doctor to have it checked out. And then maybe ask them if perhaps it could be due to tight pants after he comes back and says he has no idea what could have cause you that pain.
posted by Grither at 6:29 AM on May 3, 2010

I get it too from too tight trousers. But my pain tends to be on the right. I have had all my innards re-arranged by a skillful bowel surgeon though... so that might explain why mine is in a different place to yours.
posted by taff at 6:30 AM on May 3, 2010

Yeah, question was: assuming it was the pants, what could be causing it? Asking out of curiosity, not worry for my life. This has happened before and maybe I should've mentioned this...in college, where tight pants were the norm.
posted by bunny hugger at 6:30 AM on May 3, 2010

@Stewriffic -- no, neither. :)
posted by bunny hugger at 6:32 AM on May 3, 2010

We're way of in anecdata land here, but I've had this happen with tight jeans + sitting in a chair coding all day, although the pain was on the right side. My guess is the combination of tight clothes and unusual position leads to some sort of muscular discomfort. For some further uninformed speculation, the pain was localized about where the (10+ year old) scar from my appendectomy is, the two might be related.
posted by Dr Dracator at 6:49 AM on May 3, 2010

Abdominal fluid being compressed in a hydraulic way into areas where gravity would normally keep it out of? I say this due to an episode where I had fluid build-up in my abdomen which had to be drained surgically. The pain was like 8/10 in the upper abdomen at the time I went into the ER. As soon as the draining started (very large and painful needle BTW), instant relief. Then I passed-out for 3 weeks, but that's another story.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 7:28 AM on May 3, 2010

For pain from tight pants on the left side, the descending colon is there, so it might be related to intestinal issues such as diverticulosis / -itis, particularly if the pain sometimes happens when you poke or prod the left side of your lower abdomen, or when you eat certain sharp foods like chips, pretzels, or nuts.
posted by aught at 7:48 AM on May 3, 2010

It's a real thing. I've heard it referred to as Tight Pants Syndrome. It most affects middle-aged men, apparently. It's exactly what you might expect: "pants interfere with the motility of the bowel. This causes abdominal pain two to three hours after a meal." The pain is most likely cramps in the smooth muscles that cause peristalsis, the movement of food through your gut.
posted by bonehead at 9:12 AM on May 3, 2010

Are you male? It would be testicular torsion.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2010