Are tight-fitting skinny jeans a health risk?

The trend for tight-fitting jeans has become a "fashion staple for modern women", according to the Daily Telegraph, but now doctors are warning that in certain cases, skinny jeans can damage nerves and muscles.

The health warning came after a 35-year-old Australian woman was found lying on the ground unable to get up and had to be cut out of her jeans after her calves "ballooned in size", researchers said in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The woman had spent the day squatting to pick up boxes during a house move. As the day went on, she said that her jeans felt increasingly tight. Eventually her feet went numb and she fell over and found that she couldn't get up. She spent several hours on the ground before she was taken to hospital and given treatment.

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Doctors found that the woman's legs had become so swollen that she could no longer take off her jeans. Doctors concluded that trousers appeared to have contributed to a blockage of the nerve that directs the lower leg and feet.

"Doctors believe the woman developed a condition called compartment syndrome, made worse by her skinny jeans", the BBC says.

After four days of IV hydration, the swelling went down and the woman was able to walk again.

Doctors have reported other cases where patients have experienced numbness or tingling in their legs while wearing figure-hugging denim trousers, notes the BBC, but the risks are thought to be low for most people.