Orthopedic Surgery News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS Philadelphia Hand Center, P.C.

How could it be Halloween without a glowing jack-o-lantern looming in the night? While carving pumpkins is a fun and festive holiday tradition, it should be carefully executed to avoid injury, says a Thomas Jefferson University Hospital hand surgeon.

“Every Halloween season we see five or six patients—both adults and children—with severe injuries to their hands and fingers,” says John Taras, M.D., associate professor of orthopedic surgery, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and a hand surgeon at the Philadelphia Hand Center. “Treatment can often run three to six months, starting from the time of the surgery through the rehabilitation process.”

To prevent hand injuries, here are some handy tips to avoid the double, double toil and trouble this Halloween season:

• Carve in a clean, dry, well-lit area.
  Wash and thoroughly dry all tools including carving tools, knife, cutting surface, as well as your hands. If your tools, hands or cutting table are wet, this can cause slippage and lead to injuries.
  
• Always have adult supervision.
  Children under age five should never carve. Often, children are injured because adults feel the kids are responsible enough to carve without supervision. Instead, allow kids to draw a pattern or face on the pumpkin and have an adult carve.
  Allow the child to be responsible for cleaning out the inside pulp and seeds. Children, ages five to ten, can carve but only with adult supervision.
  
• The right way to cut.
  When the adults start cutting, they should always cut away from themselves in small, controlled strokes. A sharp knife is not necessarily the best tool because it often becomes wedged in the thicker part of the pumpkin, requiring force to remove it. An injury can occur if your hand is placed incorrectly when the knife dislodges from the thicker part or slips.
  
• Use a pumpkin carving kit.
  Special pumpkin carving kits are available for purchase and include small serrated saws that are less likely to get stuck in the thick pumpkin. If the saw does get stuck and then becomes free, it is not sharp enough to cause a major cut.

If you cut your finger or hand while carving, bleeding from minor cuts will often stop on their own by applying direct pressure to the wound. Washing a cut or scrape with soap and water and keeping it clean and dry is all that is required to care for most wounds. Avoid putting alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and iodine into a wound, so that healing will not be delayed. If the bleeding continues after 15 minutes, seek medical attention at a hospital emergency department.

For more information or to see a Jefferson hand surgeon, please call 1-800-JEFF-NOW or 1-800-971-HAND.