Avocado Slicing Injuries are Sending People to the ER

Avocados are delicious and healthy for you....sort of.

While the green fruit does have major health benefits, doctors are reporting an unfortunate new trend that's putting foodies at risk--"avocado hand".

Avocado hand is basically what happens when you don't think to put the fruit down on a plate to cut it and but hold it as you slice.

Instead of getting perfect cuts in your avocado, you get a knife in the hand.

Plastic surgeon and the former president of plastic surgery with the Royal Society of Medicine in London Simon Eccles says cases of avocado hand are growing immensely. 

"People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them."

The British news source The Independent says that doctors like Eccles aren't just dealing with small cuts.

Some people have come in with injuries so severe they need surgery or have had wounds that lead to severe nerve damage.

Eccles says medical professionals aren't saying stop eating avocados, they are asking people to be more careful when handling the food.

“We don’t want to put people off the fruit but I think warning labels are an effective way of dealing with this. Perhaps we could have a cartoon picture of an avocado with a knife, and a big red cross going through it?”

Until the labels start rolling in, here are a few tips to safely slice your avocado:

  • Lay the avocado horizontally on a flat surface
  • Place a hand on top of it, and slice into the fruit horizontally
  • Twist the avocado around until its separated into halves. 
  • Then, to remove the pit, wrap the fruit in a heavy towel, place it on a countertop, slice down into the pit so it’s stuck in the blade, and twist to remove.

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