Pumpkin Carving Tips to Avoid Injury This Halloween Season

Pumpkin carving is responsible for nearly 2,000 injuries each year, and so Dr. Duretti Fufa, a top hand surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, has shared tips people can heed while partaking in ​the spooky season tradition.

With spooky season in full swing, so too are the injuries people suffer while carving pumpkins. Those who end up in urgent care after cutting themselves by mistake may think they’re alone in injuring themselves, but the Halloween tradition is responsible for nearly 2,000 injuries each year.  

Dr. Duretti Fufa, a top hand surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, tells Inside Edition there are tips people can heed to say safe while partaking in the time old tradition.  

Be sure to avoid any grip that would allow the hand to slip and slide down the blade, she says.

Carving kits especially designed for pumpkins are safer than using a knife, she also notes.  

Use a sawing, not stabbing, motion and never cut toward your hand, she says.  

Another important tip? Never put your hand inside the pumpkin when carving.  

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