Cutting avocados is more dangerous than you may think
For avocado lovers, this is a dangerous time of year.
Thousands of people slice their hands and fingers every year while cutting avocados, and research shows that most of these injuries occur from April through July. Hand surgeons see these injuries so often that they have a name for it: avocado hand.
The injury typically occurs when someone holds an avocado in one hand and wields a sharp knife in the other. When the knife slips, or the person loses their grip on the avocado as they’re cutting it, the knife can slice into their palm or fingers. It’s not uncommon for people to sever nerves and tendons. In some cases, people stab themselves in the hand while using the tip of a knife to remove the pit.
“I’ve treated people who’ve cut off a finger while slicing an avocado,” said Eric Wagner, a hand surgeon and associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Emory University in Atlanta. “Cutting an avocado seems so harmless, but we’ve seen some pretty bad injuries from it. By far and away the most injuries I’ve seen are from avocado injuries.”
Read the full story by our food and nutrition columnist Anahad O’Connor, and watch a video to learn how to safely cut an avocado.
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