A Hand Surgeon’s Top-5 Tips For Safe Pumpkin Carving This Halloween
Pumpkin Season!
It’s that time of year! Believe it or not, Halloween is just around the corner. What better way to enjoy the season than to grab a cup of warm apple cider and decorate the front step with pumpkins? But before you do, let’s review a few important tips for a safe and hospital-free (!) Halloween celebration.
Why So Many Pumpkin Injuries?
This injury is unfortunately one we see A LOT of every year. Pumpkins pose a unique problem — they are both tough to cut…and slippery. In fact, many pumpkin carving injuries occur when trying to dislodge a knife that has become stuck in the rind. The knife abruptly slips out and cuts across your hand in the process. Another common injury is a slimy stab of the knife into your stabilizing hand or finger. Unfortunately, this injury is likely to be to the palm side of the hand, which is exactly where all the important nerves, arteries, and tendons live…
Now that we have the Halloween gore out of the way, follow these 5 steps to keep this year’s pumpkin carving as safe as possible for you and your family:
1. Adult Swim
As much as we all want pumpkin carving to be a family activity, please never let your children do the actual knife work. This should be done by adults only. But that doesn’t mean the fun has to end there! Instead, consider turning it into a group activity. The kids can choose the pattern and trace it onto the pumpkin. They can even have fun getting messy by scooping out the pulp and seeds. Once that’s done, the adults can take over and safely carve the pattern into the pumpkin. It also helps to choose a simple design so your child doesn’t lose too much interest during the adult carving portion of the activity.
2. Don’t Pop The Top
One of the biggest mistakes we see begins with an early decision — removing the top of the pumpkin. When the top is off, it’s all too easy to stick your hand inside the pumpkin for stabilization. Before you know it, you’re sawing directly at your hand, one slip away from disaster.
Instead, remove the bottom of the pumpkin. This step has multiple advantages. First, cutting out the bottom can create a flat, stable base on which to carve. Couple that with an intact top, and you can safely stabilize while you cut by placing one hand on the stem. Finally, a hole in the bottom makes life easier if you're using candles. Rather than making a dangerous attempt to reach inside the pumpkin to light a candle, just lift and place your pumpkin over a previously lit candle.
3. Clean And Dry
This one may seem obvious, but we all know the slimy sloppy mess that results from pumpkin guts'. Add that to the presence of sharp blades and you have a recipe for disaster. Make sure you are working in a well-lit area that remains clean and dry. You may need to take breaks to keep the area this way, but that time will be well worth your family’s safety. Also, if you’re cleaning off your carving knives or hands, be sure they are thoroughly dry before you start again. Residual moisture will only increase your chances of a slipping injury!
4. Choose Your Tool Wisely
It can be very tempting to use what you have lying around the house in order to carve your holiday pumpkins. Unfortunately, that choice can spell disaster. Pumpkin carving is one of the few situations where some of the holiday gizmos and gadgets for sale are actually worth the expense. Specialty pumpkin carving kits have blades that are perfectly designed to help you safely carve a pumpkin. These tools are typically small in size for better control and come with serrated saw blades that allow cuts through a thick rind without being overly sharp.
In fact, this may be one of the only situations where ‘sharper’ is not necessarily better! A sharp knife will easily bury deep into the thick part of the rind, necessitating tremendous force to try to pull it out. This risks serious injury when it unexpectedly dislodges from the pumpkin.
Bottom line. Use small pumpkin carvers specially designed for this activity. Never rush. Use small, controlled motions and always cut away from yourself.
5. When In Doubt — Paint!
Painting pumpkins is a highly underrated alternative activity to carving pumpkins that is quicker, safer, just as fun, and half the mess! Rather than carving pumpkins this year, why not paint them instead? We did this with our little one last year, and it was a hit. It’s fun for the whole family and avoids all of the safety pitfalls of carving. Check your favorite retailer this time of year for safe pumpkin paints that are made for the whole family to enjoy.
Should you unfortunately find yourself with a pumpkin carving injury this year, immediately hold pressure on the area to stop the bleeding. If it hasn’t stopped in 10-15 minutes, you should seek emergency medical care.
If your emergency medicine provider determines that you need to follow up with a hand surgeon for further care, do not delay, as many injuries are best repaired within several days following the injury. As always, if you are in this situation in Colorado and would like to visit with me about your injury, or any other hand, arm, or shoulder condition, I would be happy to care for you.
Let us know in the comments below if there is a topic you would like to hear more about and we will try to feature it in an upcoming article!
