Crossing your legs...
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free skin care · Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:00 pm

So I was sitting in the movie theatre today crossing my legs, and I got that pins and needles feeling. I've been reading alot lately about cleansing the lymphatic system and getting rid of cellulite.. that kind of stuff... and I got to thinking, sitting with my legs crossed can't be good for cellulite or lymph, since I get that pins and needles feeling alot. Sure enough, when I got home and got to googling it, crossing your legs IS bad for cellulite, it reduces circulation and increases swelling... this is going to be one HARD habit to break! Just thought I'd share.. the little things we unknowingly do to sabotage our beauty! Ugh.

free skin care · Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:06 pm

Ugh, thanks for the info! I get that pins and needles feeling All the time...I sit on top of my legs a lot, which I'm sure is even worse! Sad

free skin care · Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:59 pm

ahh i have a bad habit of crossing my legs too! And yes it is bad for cellulite Sad

free skin care · Tue Jul 11, 2006 10:06 pm

It's not just bad for cellulite, it's bad for your spin too because your weight is uneven when crossing legs.

free skin care · Wed Jul 12, 2006 8:08 am

It also can cause and agitate spider veins and vericose veins. They had a specialist on the Today show and replayed the interview on MSNBC later (this was over a year ago) talking about this.
I actually got in the habit of not crossing my legs anymore because of that (at 26, I've got spider veins on the back of one of my knees, probably do to my work as a waitress for so long, but I also crossed my legs all the time). If I do, I do it "the guy way" with my ankle placed on top of the opposite knee. Not as feminine, and I can't do that wearing a skirt, but I'd rather do that than deal with more spider veins.
It took a while to get in the habit, but now if I try to cross my legs the way I used to (in a more "lady-like" manner) it's uncomfortable.

free skin care · Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:58 am

never heard of that,but thats good to know.

free skin care · Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:54 am

Thank you for sharing!

free skin care · Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:45 pm

This is one of my bad habits which I would like to get rid of. Sitting with the leg crossed will:
- affect blood circulation
- affect the lymphatic drainage
- causing back pain ...etc

free skin care · Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:50 pm

Thanks for this reminder. I need to stop this habit ASAP because I have a bit of cellulite that I'm battling. Now, to get back on my treadmill...

free skin care · Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:35 am

Eh, I don't really believe that crossing your legs gives or aggitates varicose veins. They are more or less genetic and you can't simply "get them" by sitting a certain way.

For as many people saying it's harmful, there's just as many people saying it's harmless.

A quick google got me:

Does sitting with your legs crossed cause spider veins or other problems?

Short answer: No it's pretty harmless!

Circulation: crossing your legs only compresses a small circumference of the leg which your rather well designed body can easily cope with by diverting blood around

Varicose veins: Varicose veins develop due to progressive failure of valves in the veins. This process occurs due to the weight of blood upon them, which is maximal when standing, so sitting cross legged is fine.

Nerve injury: Dead legs sustained from prolonged cross-legged sitting are due to the nerves being short of blood flow over the compressed segment, it would need to be continuous firm pressure for over 2 hours to start to cause any permanent problems - and who sits for over two hours without adjusting their position? ....The answer is people who are drunk or smashed on drugs or collapsed with a medical problem, these can have prolonged compression on one part of the body (even lying still for a few hours) and kill off some of the compressed tissues (pressure sores) - but that is kind of shooting off-topic.

DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) - flow rates in the deep calf veins are inevitably reduced when sat cross legged, and reduction in the rate of blood flow is a risk faactor for blood clotting, but it is enormously unlikely to result in a DVT unless you have other major risk factors, especially as with frequent changes in position, the blood flow is frequently returned to full flow rates.

A lot of people are apparently confused. I believe that crossing your legs may be recommended against (that is, not necessarily harmful) if you are pregnant, have a history of varicose veins in your family, have a bone replacement, etc. These are specific cases and don't necessarily apply to everyone. Plus, it's a case of common sense- anyone who is getting those pins and needles will not obviously stay in that same position, as the info above said. It's normal for certain parts of our body to fall asleep and become numb if we position ourselves abnormally.

As for other stuff like back pain and whatnot...that's why too far isolated to attribute to sitting with your legs crossed. That's like me saying I ate fruit all day but it was the apple that made me sick. There's really no way of specifically pointing it out and making a conclusive answer- perhaps, it's one's posture or chair that is giving them back pain. Perhaps they're being overworked.

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