As the holiday season comes crashing in with Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the team at SOS offers you and your family best wishes for a safe, happy holiday season. Team members instruct you to be ever mindful of your activities, as they’ve compiled a list of odd, but true, injuries during the holiday season seen by medical professional over the years.
A TURKEY’S REVENGE
It’s not unusual for people to cut themselves while carving a turkey with a sharp knife. However, one physician reports that he’s seen injuries from people dropping the turkey on their feet, leading to fractures and contusions. Remember, a frozen bird that weighs more than 10 pounds and drops onto a foot can cause damage, so handle the fowl carefully. As with any heavy item, bend with your knees to lift it and always carry with two arms.
“WRAP RAGE”
We all know the feeling – you (or your child) receive the gift you’ve been dying for, only to find it impossible to open. A 2008 British study found that difficult packaging led approximately 60,000 people to emergency rooms for treatment for sprains, bruises, and muscle extensions, among other minor injuries.
SOS recommends having some small hand tools including scissors, box cutters and pliers available and using patience while opening gifts.
A “FOWL” PLAY
For many families, a friendly game of football is part of the Thanksgiving tradition. This alone poses risk for orthopedic injuries, as many amateurs toss the pigskin without appropriate gear or training. One orthopedic surgeon in Manhattan recalls the oddest injury he treated – a man fell on the football field while wearing a helmet made from a raw turkey. Oddly, the turkey helmet prevented more serious head injuries.
SOS experts agree that if you are going to play a friendly game of touch football, make sure you are fit enough to play, and use appropriate headgear, not of the uncooked animal variety.
CRACKING MORE THAN A CRACKER
Holiday crackers, a Christmas tradition in the United Kingdom, and growing in popularity in other counties, are cardboard tubes with small trinkets wrapped in paper, which is pulled by two people, much like a turkey wishbone, and when the cracker splits, it makes a noise and the trinkets fall out. According to the Human Factor & Incident Investigation Institute, at least three people break their arm each year while pulling holiday crackers. So, pull gently and enjoy the tradition.
SOS hopes everyone is careful while enjoying the start of the holiday season, but if you are injured, SOS PLUS After Hours Care is available. SOS PLUS is a walk-in orthopedic medical clinic that treats patients of all ages with acute orthopedic conditions requiring immediate attention.
SOS Plus has two locations to best serve patients, at 5719 Widewaters Parkway in Dewitt and 5000 West Seneca Turnpike in Onondaga Hill. Hours for both locations are weekdays 5 pm – 8:30 pm, and weekends 10 am – 2 pm. Please note, SOS Plus will be closed on Thursday, November 26 for the Thanksgiving holiday.