Doctor warns Aussies over recurring Christmas injury: 'Stop rushing'
A Queensland surgeon says people keep presenting with injuries to one particular body part during the holiday rush.
Aussies have been warned to slow down and "stop rushing" this Christmas as hospital admissions soar in the lead-up to the big day.
People severing fingers, injuring themselves on nail guns, cutting themselves on knives and broken glass and even penile fractures from "wild sex" have been all reported this festive season, with one Queensland doctor advising there'd been a 50 per cent spike in patients he'd seen in recent weeks.
Surgeon at Brisbane's Mater Hospital, Dr Andrew Hadj, urged Aussies to take care and stop hurrying throughout the holidays, although he expects the trend will continue anyway. Hadj said in particular, people had been presenting with wounds to their hands.
Hospitalisations skyrocket in Christmas run-up
“We are seeing a spike in both industrial and domestic incidents, often involving severed or crushed hands and fingers,” he said. “Most patients tell me they were in a rush, hurrying or running late when they sustained an injury and weren’t paying attention.
“These are factors that really come to the fore during the run-up to Christmas, as so many people are trying to finish lots of tasks, and are not always fully concentrating. People need to slow down and take their time, especially when items like knives and power tools are involved.
“Please don’t give yourself a hand injury for Christmas.”
Surgeon flags recurring injuries
According to the doctor, the most common type of hand injuries that he'd seen recently were from nail guns, followed by animal bites, angle grinders, sharp knives and glass.
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With some cases requiring up to two years of rehabilitation, in addition to complex reconstructive surgery. Hadj said the risks of rushing often aren't worth it.
“Despite the significant advances in reconstructive repair, these patients will always have a degree of major impairment, so prevention is the best remedy,” Hadj said, adding that “plenty of activity in home kitchens” leading up to Christmas, with stress and time constraints, had added to knife-related wounds.
“Knives and broken glass can be very unforgiving to the human hand, so please take care in the kitchen and throughout the home,” he said.
Wild bedroom antics causing penis injuries
Meanwhile, a Munich-based doctor told men in particular to exercise caution in the bedroom during the Christmas excitement, after a notable uptick in penile fractures — an extremely painful condition in which the erection-producing regions of the penis snap —had been reported.
“This injury tends to occur during wild sex – particularly in positions where you’re not in direct eye contact [with your partner], such as the reverse cowgirl,” Dr Nikolaos Pyrgides told The Guardian.
Pointing to data that suggested that penis-related injuries increased over the festive period, Pyrgides said "the risk increased at weekends and over the summer holidays". “It would be interesting to see data from other countries, but in Germany, Christmas week is widely celebrated, while New Year’s Eve tends to be a bit quieter,” he added.
In England, the Christmas tree is one of the most common sources of accidents during the holiday season, with approximately 1,000 Britons sustaining tree-related injuries each year, according to the The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
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