December is often an injury-laden month as more people travel, roads can ice with the coming of winters and celebrating families might get a little to into the holiday spirit. Here’s a look at some of the most common Christmas-related injuries during the month.
Outside of accidents that occur on the road, decorating seems to take the most toll on people during Christmas. Throughout the month, injuries from putting up or taking down decorations account for the most reported injuries. People might fall off ladders, hammer their thumb, electrocute themselves or cut themselves while putting decorations up. Some of these injuries can be serious and might results in emergency room visits.
Surprisingly, unwrapping and wrapping gifts can also be dangerous during the season. On Christmas day, injuries related to unwrapping spike dramatically. Mostly, this is due to people injuring themselves as they use knives or scissors to help unwrap gifts or take items out of packaging. Lacerations, or cuts, account for the majority of Christmas injuries.
Other types of injuries include strains and sprains, abrasions and fractures. Even stockings can hold some menace during the holidays, in part because some of them are held up with heavy holders that can fall onto children.
Most of these injuries discussed are related to freak accidents or carelessness during the season, but some accidents can be because of negligence on the part of a third-party. If you are facing injuries or expenses because of the actions or inaction of a third-party, then you do have rights. Make sure you understand those rights by working with a personal injury lawyer following the holiday season to see if you can get compensation for medical expenses or other losses.
Source: Quartz, “America’s most common Christmas-related injuries, in charts,” Keith Collins, accessed Dec. 23, 2016
