Ouch! Doctors Are Seeing An Increase In 'Avocado Hand' Injuries

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)—Doctors are calling for safety labels on avocados after an increase in cutting injuries.

The U.K. newspaper The Times reports that the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons are seeing a growing number of patients coming to the emergency room for what is being called "avocado hand".

"People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them," Dr. Simon Eccles, the former president of the plastic surgery section of the Royal Society of Medicine, told the paper.

Doctors in the United States tell CBS News that the problem is people tend to cut into an avocado while cupping it in their hand.

"It's the peculiar nature of the fruit. It has a hard shell then soft fruit then again a hard pit. So you get this false sense that it should be sturdy to cut through," said Sheel Sharma, M.D., clinical associate professor in the Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center . "So you cut the skin, then the knife slices through the flesh and the next thing is your hand."

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Sharma says knife injuries to the nerves or tendons can take weeks to months to heal.