We all look forward to the holidays. It’s time to enjoy the company of friends and family and allow work to fall to the wayside for a few days. The holidays are full of joy – but don’t let that all be spoiled with a trip to the emergency room or a visit from the local fire department!
The holiday season brings people together to celebrate family traditions (or just whatever college football game is on that day,) but it also brings out more risk! From hanging decorations to deep-frying a turkey, it’s no wonder that accidents at home spike around the final weeks of the year. We wish you all the best this year, and to keep yourself and your home safe, follow these tips to stay injury-free this holiday season:
If You Can’t Stand The Heat…
The kitchen (and by extension, grilling and deep-frying outdoors) is a site of a large proportion of injuries over the holidays. Make sure that, if you’re the one in the kitchen doing the cooking, you stay by your pan – unattended cooking is the #1 cause of house fires. At the same time, follow all food safety guidelines. 1 in 6 Americans suffers from food-borne illnesses each year! If you choose to deep fry your turkey, ensure that it’s done outside and away from your home rather than in a garage or under a patio covering. Also, don’t overfill your fryer with oil!
Deck The Halls
Nothing will give you the holiday spirit like a festive and fully-decorated home. That being said, decorating is a major source of holiday injuries and incidents! Make sure to keep potentially poisonous plants like mistletoe, holly berries, Jerusalem cherry, and amaryllis – away from both children and pets. When hanging lights, only use indoor lights indoors, and outdoor lights outdoors and use the right ladder! When leaving the house, turn all lights and electronic decorations off to minimize fire risk.
Don’t Overdo It
Whether it’s at the gym trying to work off that extra helping of dessert or a home carrying your in-law’s bags upstairs, it’s vital that you don’t overdo it and hurt yourself! Over 55,000 people sustain injuries to back, neck, and shoulders each year due to carrying luggage. Don’t overwork yourself in the gym either – remember, rest is just as important as exercise!
Take Your Time
Too many people suffer an injury during the holidays from wrapping and unwrapping gifts. Whether that’s from rushing through wrapping presents and accidentally cutting yourself with the scissors or from slicing into the tough plastic packaging around a gift, it’s all too easy to hurt yourself! Also, when traversing cluttered living areas, take your time! Roughly 2,000 people every winter are treated for lacerations, sprains, and more due to tripping over extension cords.
No one wants to spend the holidays in the emergency room. Follow these quick tips to prevent holiday injuries for both you and your loved ones! If you happen to suffer an injury over the holidays, give our office a call. We’d love nothing more than to get you back to pain-free living as we head into 2020! Happy new year!