Yahoo! Life: Here’s How to Prevent and Treat Avocado Hand, Watermelon Wounds and Lime Burns

Yahoo! Life recently interviewed Sam Torbati, MD, associate professor and co-chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and medical director of the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai, about how to treat injuries commonly caused by summer fruits.

Torbati, who also holds the Levin/Gordon Chair in Emergency Medicine in Honor of Joel M. Geiderman, MD, told Yahoo! Life that using a knife to remove an avocado pit is not safe.

“Avocado hand can be best prevented by placing the avocado on a cutting board instead of cutting it on your hand,” he said. “We see a lot of injuries when people use knives to remove the pit—a definite no-no. Using a blunt tool like a spoon is much safer.”

Torbati told Yahoo! Life that wounds from cutting a watermelon—although less common than those from cutting an avocado—may require stitches.

“If the cut is more than a centimeter deep or won’t stop bleeding after 10 minutes of continued application of pressure, there is a good chance it will benefit from sutures,” he said.

Torbati told Yahoo! Life that lemon and lime juice can cause a chemical burn—also known as margarita burn—if the skin is exposed to sunlight and the juice is not quickly washed off with soap and water.

“Deeper burns requiring medical attention are those with blistering, especially if the surface area involved is large,” he said. “Second- and third-degree chemical burn injuries require similar treatment to those of regular burns.

“Know there is a risk of margarita burn anytime someone is thinking of cutting or juicing citrus fruits while in the hot sun.”

Click here to read the complete article in Yahoo! Life.