Health Update: Stretch and squeeze

MEN WHO are keen on back exercise should wear loose, soft clothing - otherwise they could suffer from 'stretcher's scrotum', a doctor in Wilmington, North Carolina, has warned.

He describes in the New England Journal of Medicine the case of a 40-year-old athlete who suffered acute scrotal swelling and pain for several days after performing stretching exercises for the lower back. The man had been wearing 'restrictive gym shorts' and his routine involved bringing one knee up to the chest - unwittingly squashing his testicles in the process.