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An Australian spent four days in hospital after her skinny jeans cut off the blood supply to her calf muscles and caused her to collapse.

The 35-year-old woman spent the day helping relatives move to a new home in Adelaide and had “noticed they were somewhat tight,” consultant neurologist Professor Thomas Kimber told radio station 891 ABC.

“I guess skinny jeans tend to be,” Kimber said, adding that the woman had spent the day squatting down and cleaning out cupboards.

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As she walked home through a park later that night “her feet became increasingly weak to the point where she fell,” he added. She eventually managed to crawl to the side of the road and hailed a taxi to the hospital.

Medical staff were forced to cut the tight jeans from her legs “because they couldn’t remove them any other way.”

Documenting the case for the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Kimber said the prolonged squatting had cut off the blood supply to her calf muscles causing them to become “massively swollen.”

“As a result of that she had suffered compression to two of the major nerves in her lower leg and had developed this leg weakness as a result," he said.

The woman suffered a “significant calf muscle injury and, as a result of that, some proteins are released into her blood stream and she needed to be on an intravenous drip to flush those proteins through so that she wouldn't develop any damage to her kidneys,” he added.

She was discharged after four days at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The woman, who was described as a “fashion victim” by Kimber, has made a full recovery.

But the neurologist warned others to wear looser clothing and said people who insist on wearing skinny jeans should stand up and walk around to get the blood pumping if their legs feel tingly.