Seven things A&E doctors wish you'd avoid doing at home

Telegraph

18-04-2025

'A person managed to cut through both bones of their forearm with a circular saw, leaving their hand dangling on a flap of muscle,' says Dr Stephen Hughes, a consultant in emergency medicine at Broomfield Hospital, recalling one of his most gruesome encounters in A&E.
Thankfully, in this instance, the patient survived, and their hand was successfully reattached, but that's not always the case. Accidents are behind 6,000 deaths every year in the UK and they are responsible for around 10 per cent of A&E visits, Dr Hughes says.
This figure will likely increase over the Easter weekend, due to a surge in people using their extra days off to take on DIY jobs at home with power tools that they wouldn't normally consider using.
'Very often, you've got a chap who works in an office nine to five and then, nearing retirement, decides to become a handyman to show the grandchildren a thing or two,' explains Dr Hughes. 'The vast majority of people get away with it but, once in a while, you get people who haven't a clue what they're doing getting into trouble.'
Here are top hazards that will send you straight to A&E – and tips from doctors on how to avoid them.
1. Misusing DIY tools
'Things like a circular saw – I've seen fingers come off because of those. And angle grinders – basically a grinding wheel – which shreds through soft tissue. Those injuries are quite unpleasant,' says Dr Hughes.
Hammers, famously, are also known to cause damage to fingers. 'They will give you a nasty thing called a subungual hematoma – bruising under the nail that's very painful,' he says. Splinters under the fingernails from sanding are another common DIY injury and they can become infected, Dr Hughes notes.
What does the doctor advise?
'Accidents happen when [people are] stressed or when they're trying to get things done in a hurry,' Dr Martin Scurr, a GP and palliative care specialist at King Edward VII's Hospital notes. 'Please take regular tea breaks and invest in proper safety equipment. You might feel silly wearing a hard hat, but you'll feel a lot worse if something lands on your head without one.' Safety goggles and gloves can also prevent injury.
2. Falling off ladders
'You get a number of serious head injuries from people going up a ladder to fix their roofing and falling off,' says Dr Hughes, who is also a senior lecturer in the school of medicine at Anglia Ruskin University. This can lead to a traumatic brain injury, and, in severe cases, the fall can be fatal, he says.
The victims are 'often people over 65, as your balance worsens considerably at this age. By your late-60s, you have to make a lot of postural corrections just to stay upright,' says Dr Hughes. When you're up a ladder, particularly if your balance isn't very good in the first place, you're more at risk.
What does the doctor advise?
'I do have a rule that nobody much over 65 should be going up a ladder, and certainly not on their own without assistance,' says Dr Hughes. 'They are the worst DIY tragedies that I see. Many have not long had time to enjoy retirement, or have left families bereft of an active and practical grandfather, who would otherwise be a great help to them.'
3. Carelessly cutting avocados
'Trying to chop up avocados and taking out the stone – that's a quite common way of having knives go through hands and cutting tendons,' says Dr Mark Webb, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at King Edward VII's Hospital in London.
'The hand is such an intricate and delicate structure, and if you need to repair a tendon, it's unlikely to return to being a fully-functioning, normal hand after that,' he warns. 'It's amazing how a momentary lapse in precaution can create an irreversible situation so easily.'
What does the doctor advise?
The safe way to cut an avocado is to lie it on its side on a chopping board and slice through it lengthways, while your other hand is in a bridge position over the knife, well away from the blade. 'There are also specific tools to de-stone your avocados and chop them up,' Dr Webb notes.
4. Cutting into delivery parcels with sharp knives
Dr Scurr has seen numerous injuries from cutting into parcels. 'Within the past month, I had a neighbour call by with a deep (down to the bone) laceration of the left index finger when he was using a box cutter to open a parcel and stabilising the box with his left hand… he cut right through,' he says. 'He needed a very careful sutured repair.'
What does the doctor advise?
'Don't cut towards yourself or other people,' says Dr Hughes. 'Make sure the cut is controlled, rather than with a great flourish, or a slash, to get through things. Controlled movements are really important.'
If you slice into your hand, Dr Hughes recommends cleaning the wound, applying direct pressure to it and covering it with a clean dressing. Seek help if the bleeding doesn't stop; you notice weakness or loss of function or sensation in your hand; the wound is contaminated or if there is significant skin loss and the wound won't close, he says.
'Please ensure that you have at least a basic first aid kit and spend time reading about first aid,' Dr Hughes adds.
5. Cutting the grass in flip flops
'It's not unheard of, particularly in the springtime, for people to be cutting the grass in inappropriate footwear and lose toes as a result,' Dr Webb says. 'It can occur if people wear sandals or flip-flops and then run over their feet or slip on the grass and the lawn mower comes down on their toes,' he explains.
What does the doctor advise?
If you slice your foot with your lawn mower, the first thing to do is stop the flow of blood from the wound as soon as you can, Dr Webb says. 'This should be done with any sort of clean fabric that is to hand, with lots of pressure being consistently applied to the wound,' he explains. 'If you are concerned, the most important thing is to be assessed by a professional who can decide what treatment is needed.'
To avoid the injury in the first place, 'wear appropriate footwear when you're doing the task', Dr Webb recommends. 'Probably boots with steel caps, or at least leather shoes, would provide you with more protection than wearing sandals or flip-flops.'
6. Tripping on stairs
' Falling down the stairs is one of the most common sources of injury that we see in this population, especially to older people at home,' says Dr Baxter. 'It's a major cause of spinal head injuries.'
'Probably once or twice a week, we see people that have fallen down stairs,' Dr Webb adds.
What does the doctor advise?
There are things to do that can make them safer, Dr Baxter says: 'You can have rails on the side of the stairs; carpeting so the stairs have a tactile feel to them and they're softer; and lighting on them to make sure it's visible when people are going up and down,' he adds.
7. Handling cleaning products without gloves
'I am constantly treating patients with skin irritations and, around once a month, we find the cause of an irritation is an allergy or the misuse of a common cleaning product,' says Dr Catherine Borysiewicz, a consultant dermatologist at King Edward VII's Hospital.
While these products may only cause short-term skin irritation, they can lead to serious chemical burns, which appear as blisters, scabs, cracked, dry or peeling skin, redness or discolouration and possible swelling. This can occur along with severe pain in the area, or even numbness if the burn is bad enough to have attacked the nerves, she warns.
If you suffer a chemical burn, any clothes contaminated with the chemical should be carefully cut away, Dr Borysiewicz says. 'Your aim should be to stop the chemical from touching any other areas of the body, so anyone helping should make sure not to use their bare hands,' she explains. 'Any remnants of the chemical should be removed from the burned area and it should be thoroughly rinsed.
'It's really important that people see a doctor when symptoms present themselves, so that you can identify the cause and take steps against it immediately to avoid long-term damage to your skin,' Dr Borysiewicz says.
What does the doctor advise?
When using cleaning products, wear gloves, she says. 'I'm surprised how many people don't think to wear gloves when cleaning around the house, especially when using bleach and other toxic chemicals.'
Then, thoroughly clean your hands immediately once you are finished, she adds. 'This will stop any excess product from being passed on to other areas of the skin, for example when scratching one's face.'