The Dreaded Avocado Injury

Like most people, I enjoy great guacamole - especially homemade. One of the best ways to ruin a fantastic guacamole experience is to cut your hand while preparing it!  

A little known fact about avocados is that they are one of the most dangerous kitchen fruits. I have seen many patients who have severed their tendons, nerves, and arteries while preparing this seemingly harmless fruit. They’re soft on the outside and have a hard smooth pit inside, which makes them tricky to slice.

Injuries occur when people hold the avocado in the palm of their hand while slicing into it with a knife and removing the pit with the sharp end of a knife. The knife can slip and pierce the palm or a finger. These wounds may appear small, but often are deep and require surgery. 

Here’s a simple safe method to prepare your avocado….  Place the avocado on a hard flat surface, such as a cutting board (not your hand). Use a sharp knife to cut the avocado lengthwise around the pit and then gently twist the two halves in opposite directions to separate them.  Insert a spoon between the pit and the fruit and use the spoon to remove the pit. Finally, use the spoon to remove the fruit from the skin.

Using this technique, you can serve your avocado dish without a piece of finger in it.  I have seen similar injuries in patients who were slicing bagels and separating frozen hot dogs or hamburgers with a knife. 

Cooking can be dangerous. Please be careful. If you happen to have a cooking misadventure, you can find me in my office… I’ll be waiting for you.

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