The holidays are all fun and games until they're not. A surgeon and professor explained which types of injuries he sees this time of year.
"During the holidays we see injuries that patients sustained both when they're putting up their decorations on the outside of their homes, on the trees in their yard, as well as trees inside the house," Dr. Shekar Kurpad, with Froedtert Hospital & The Medical College of Wisconsin, explained.
Kurpad said people are frequently injured while decking the halls.
"Try not to get on a ladder, I feel sometimes I am biased because of what I see on the back end."
He says types of injuries vary and many can be severe.
“We do see a fair number of head injuries just from falls and we also see long bone fractures."
Kurpad sees spine and neck injuries that require surgery at times too. However, he says those severe injuries are not as common.
"Those fortunately are rare," he explained.
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and Kurpad recommends moving the base of the ladder one foot away from the wall for every four feet of height you climb.
"It's important to be careful before your enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of you."
