For avocado lovers, it is a harmful time of 12 months.1000’s of individuals slice their fingers and fingers yearly whereas reducing avocados, and analysis exhibits that the majority of those accidents happen from April by means of July. Hand surgeons see these accidents so usually that they’ve a reputation for it: Avocado hand.The harm usually happens when somebody holds an avocado in a single hand and wields a pointy knife within the different. When the knife slips, or the particular person loses their grip on the avocado as they’re reducing it, the knife can slice into their palm or fingers. It’s not unusual for folks to sever nerves and tendons. In some instances, folks stab themselves within the hand whereas utilizing the tip of a knife to take away the pit.“I’ve handled individuals who’ve reduce off a finger whereas slicing an avocado,” stated Eric Wagner, a hand surgeon and affiliate professor of orthopedic surgical procedure at Emory College in Atlanta. “Chopping an avocado appears so innocent, however we’ve seen some fairly dangerous accidents from it. By far and away probably the most accidents I’ve seen are from avocado accidents.”Wagner and his colleagues encountered so many sufferers needing hand surgical procedure due to avocado-related knife wounds that in 2020 they printed a research that examined the phenomenon’s nationwide prevalence. They discovered that between 1998 and 2017, greater than 50,000 folks in the USA went to emergency rooms in search of remedy for avocado-related knife wounds.Most hanging was that the incidence of those accidents elevated sharply over time. Within the four-year interval from 1998 to 2002, simply 3,143 instances requiring emergency room visits had been reported. However between 2013 and 2017, the speed shot up dramatically, with 27,059 emergency instances reported — an almost ninefold enhance. Wagner stated that the speed of those accidents seems to be accelerating as a result of he’s seen much more instances prior to now 5 years than he noticed beforehand.The rising recognition of avocadosThe bounce in accidents intently mirrors the rising recognition of avocados. In keeping with the federal authorities, the typical American consumed about 1.5 kilos of avocados per 12 months in 1989, however by 2017, the typical consumption had soared to about 7.5 kilos of avocados yearly.In a research printed within the American Journal of Well being Conduct, researchers discovered that about 2 % of all client product-related accidents reported to the federal authorities stemmed from reducing avocados.“That doesn’t seem to be so much, but it surely’s 1 in each 50 knife accidents,” stated Matthew E. Rossheim, the lead writer of the research and an affiliate professor within the Faculty of Public Well being on the College of North Texas Well being Science Middle in Fort Value. “It’s surprising what number of ER division visits are associated to avocado hand reducing accidents.”Avocado hand isn’t solely a U.S. phenomenon both. Research have documented instances in quite a lot of different nations, together with England, Sweden, Switzerland and Eire.In the USA, Wagner and his colleagues discovered that a lot of the accidents occurred amongst girls between the ages of 23 and 39, and that the injuries had been normally on their left hand, doubtless as a result of that was the hand they had been utilizing to carry the avocado whereas reducing into it. About half the people who had been injured had suffered wounds to their palms. The opposite half had lacerations on their fingers, most frequently their index finger (34 % of instances), adopted by their thumb (19 % of instances) or ring finger (17 % of instances).Many of the accidents passed off on weekends from April by means of July. Wagner stated he suspects this was as a result of persons are extra steadily cooking, barbecuing and gathering outdoors for social events when the climate warms up, and that folks could find yourself being rather less cautious than typical.“A variety of the folks I see had been at a household occasion when it occurred and alcohol was concerned,” he stated.Easy methods to safely reduce open an avocadoAvocados are chock stuffed with fiber, wholesome fat, potassium, and different nutritional vitamins and minerals. They’re one of the nutritious fruits you may eat (sure, they’re technically fruits). However reducing them open shouldn’t imply risking a visit to the emergency room. So, right here’s how you can safely reduce open an avocado: (Video: HyoJung Kim/The Washington Publish)Place the avocado on a reducing board, utilizing your non-dominant hand to carry it in place.Along with your dominant hand, maintain a knife parallel to the reducing board and thoroughly reduce the avocado in half lengthwise across the seed, rotating the fruit across the knife.Maintain the avocado in your fingers and make a twisting movement to separate the 2 halves.Maintain the half that comprises the pit in your non-dominant hand. Gently squeeze it to assist separate the pit from the flesh and use a spoon to scoop it out together with your different hand. Or strive the “pop” methodology: Place each thumbs on the pores and skin facet, proper behind the pit, and push the pit away from you.Place one half of the avocado skin-side down on the reducing board. Maintain the facet of the avocado with one hand, and reduce from high to backside, ensuring the knife’s blade is perpendicular to the reducing board. Now repeat with the opposite half of the avocado.Use a spoon or your fingers to peel the pores and skin from every quarter of the avocado. (In case your avocado is ripe sufficient, you may go straight from pitting it to peeling off the pores and skin together with your fingers or a spoon.)If you wish to be particularly secure, think about using a butter knife as a substitute of a pointy knife. However most significantly, don’t reduce your avocados whereas holding them within the palm of your hand, stated Wagner, the hand surgeon at Emory.“That is mindless as a result of if the knife slips then your thumb or index finger are going to get sliced,” he stated.Second, all the time keep in mind to chop away out of your hand or fingers in order that they gained’t be within the blade’s path if the knife or avocado slips.Wagner stated that he loves making selfmade guacamole, however seeing so many accidents has made him extraordinarily cautious about how he slices avocados. “It positively takes me slightly longer to chop an avocado then it did again earlier than I turned a surgeon,” he stated.Wagner stated that his spouse, who’s an orthopedic surgeon, has additionally modified her strategy.“I’ve advised her so many horror tales about folks reducing off their fingers that she’s tremendous cautious,” he added.Do you have got a query about wholesome consuming? Electronic mail EatingLab@washpost.com and we could reply your query in a future column.