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Holiday Meals Mean Safety First in Your Kitchen

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 14, 2023.

THURSDAY, Dec. 14, 2023 -- Knives, vegetable peelers, blenders: There are plenty of ways to injure yourself in the kitchen during the holidays.

To keep things merry, cheery and safe, experts at Midwest Orthopaedics at RUSH (MOR) in Chicago say there are simple steps you and those who are helping you cook can take to stay safe.

They point out that every year 350,000 people are seen in U.S. emergency rooms for knife injuries alone.

“I see a big increase in hand and finger injuries from kitchen accidents over the holidays,” Dr. Xavier Simcock, a MOR hand and wrist surgeon, said in a MOR news release. “I’ve treated patients who have mistakenly cut themselves while carving turkeys or dropping holiday dishes. It can happen so easily, especially with momentary distractions.”

What might initially seem like a minor cut to the hand could be far more serious, added Dr. Mark Cohen, another MOR hand and wrist surgeon.

“If a tendon, which is key to moving our hands and fingers, is cut, it can be hard to re-attach surgically and for the injured person to regain full mobility," he explained. "And severing a nerve can cause feeling to be lost in that extremity.”

Luckily, sticking to safer techniques for carving turkeys or chopping vegetables can keep holidays injury-free.

Kristen Grider is a MOR occupational therapist who often treats hand and finger injuries. She offered up these kitchen safety tips:

Sources

  • Midwest Orthopaedics at RUSH, news release, Dec. 7, 2023

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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