I SPENT at least an hour at the weekend struggling to open household goods. A carton of orange juice had me cursing after I wrestled with the pop up flap.

I took so long trying to find a seam on a cellophane DVD wrapper that had been superglued on and pressed with a hot iron, that my husband got bored and went to bed.

And it took me so long to release the lid on a medicine bottle that my cough had cleared up by the time I managed it.

Most tricky of all, I bought a cotton reel whose end was nowhere to be found. After 20 minutes scraping its surface with my nail, I lost my temper, sliced into the middle with scissors and ended up with a ruined reel.

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The week before I cut a finger quite badly while trying to force open a can of chopped tomatoes, that did not respond to the can opener, with a knife.

The difficulties people experience with packaging have been highlighted many times over many years. So why is it still designed to be impenetrable?

Three quarters of us find packaging hard to open, according to a Which? survey and four in 10 people say they have hurt themselves while trying to open packaging.

It seems to be getting worse. More and more companies seem to be using tiny plastic cable ties to attach items to cardboard backing. I recently bought some scissors which were secured in this manner. It was a farcical situation – I needed another pair of scissors to free them.

Some companies are even putting labels on products using cable ties so you can’t simply rip them off anymore.

I have so many problems opening tins, I try to buy those with a pull ring - but they’re twice as expensive and the rings are often immovable or break.

Even small, free products can cause problems. I find tearing open those little sachets of sauce or mayonnaise you get in cafes impossible without it spurting all over the place.

My mum, who suffers from arthritis, has major difficulties with jars and bottles and frequently asks my dad to help.

You would think that with people living longer and our elderly population increasing, designers would by now have taken steps to address these problems.

But it goes on. From cheese to rice to cucumber - why is the film so tight that you can’t get a grip on it - and cat litter sealed with those ridiculous string loops that should release with one tug, yet you end up taking an hour to snip each one?

We are obsessed with health and safety, but surely this flies in the face of it.