'Bras as risky as rock climbing'

The inability to undo a woman's bra is one of the most frustrating, not to say downright embarrassing, aspects of being a man.

What few men realise, however, is that a bra strap poses a risk of serious injury.

Plastic surgeons from St George's Hospital, Tooting, looked into the problem after treating a patient who suffered severe ligament damage and a broken finger after catching it as he tried to unhook his lover's bra.

Their research, published in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery, found that 40 per cent of young men have such a poor grasp of the way a bra fastens that they risk serious finger injuries.

Andrew Fleming, the surgeon who treated the man in question, said: "it was a very nasty injury... the type of thing that is more commonly associated with sport, particularly rock climbing".