Tying your underskirt (petticoat) tightly around the waist when wearing a sari, can lead to “petticoat cancer” or “sari cancer,” as it was previously called. Tying the underskirt too tightly can cause constant cord friction that can lead to chronic inflammation, skin ulceration and, in rare cases, skin cancer.
Doctors describe two cases in the journal BMJ Case Reports. The first case involved a 70-year-old woman who had a painful skin ulcer on her right flank that wouldn’t heal for 18 months. The skin in the surrounding area had lost its pigmentation. She wore a Nauvari sari, tightly wrapped around her waist, for most of her adult life. A biopsy from the area showed that she had a Marjolin ulcer, also known as squamous cell carcinoma.
The second case involved a woman in her late 60s who had a similar ulcer on her right flank that wouldn’t heal for two years. She was also diagnosed with Marjolin ulcer, and her cancer had already spread to one of the lymph nodes in her groin when she was diagnosed. She had worn a lugda, traditional type of sari, every day for 40 years, tied very tightly around the waist without an underskirt.
Marjolin ulcer is a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer that grows from burns, poorly healing wounds, or scars.
“Constant pressure at the waist often leads to cutaneous atrophy, which ultimately breaks down to form an erosion or an ulcer. The ulcer at this site does not heal entirely due to ongoing pressure from tight clothing. A chronic non-healing wound results, which may develop malignant change,” the study explained. They recommend wearing a loose petticoat under the sari, and if skin problems arise, to wear loose clothing to let the area heal.
