As spring finally starts to set in, here are a few tips to keep in mind in the garden.

The American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) recommends that gardeners take the proper precautions to prevent hand-related injuries before digging or planting in the garden.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), emergency rooms treat more than 400,000 outdoor garden-tool-related accidents each year. With proper safety techniques, you can stay away from the hospital and avoid becoming a statistic.

“While protection and safety is important in everyday life, proper hand care is particularly important in the garden,” says Brent Bamberger, DO, OA hand surgeon. “The key to keeping your hands safe and in good condition is common sense.”

“Just because you might be out relaxing in the garden doesn’t mean you should throw safety precautions to the wind. Before you start each task, simply ask yourself, ‘What can I do to keep my hands safe?’

Follow these precautions to avoid injury, pain, and discomfort:

Wear gloves when working outside

Wearing the proper gloves will not only reduce blistering, but will also protect your skin from fertilizers and pesticides as well as bacteria and fungus which live in the soil. When exposed to soil, even the smallest cut or lesion runs the risk of developing into a major hand infection.

Leather gloves offer protection from thorny objects; snake, rodent, and insect bites; poison ivy; and other skin irritants in the garden. Gloves also prevent sunburn and fingernail damage.

Avoid prolonged repetitive motions

Unless you are preconditioned or accustomed to the activity, repetitive motions, such as digging, raking, trimming hedges, pruning bushes, or planting bulbs, may cause skin, tendon or nerve irritation. Make sure your gardening activities are varied and tasks are rotated every 15 minutes with a brief rest in-between so that the same muscles are not used over and over again.

Watch for buried objects

Sharp objects and debris buried in the soil may cause tendon lacerations or punctures. Use a hand shovel or rake rather than you rhand, itself, for digging.

Use the right too for the right job

Avoid accidents by using tools for their intended purposes. When purchasing pruners, loppers, or shears, look for brands featuring a safety lock, and keep sharp tools away from children at all times.

Use proper ergonomic posture

"Postures" refers not only to your whole body position, but also to such things as the angle of your wrist while using hand tools. Grip strength is at its maximum when the wrist is in a relaxed or neutral position. Testing has shown that people lose up to 25% of their grip strength when their wrist is bent (source: Fiskars).

Avoid products with form-fitting handles

Many tools are made with finger grips molded into the handle to provide better slip resistance. These "form-fitting" grooves, however, only fit one size of hand perfectly. People with larger hands will find that their fingers overlap the ridges, causign pain, soreness, and calluses. Those with smaller hands will have to spread their finger to match the grooves. Strength testing has shown that this spreading of the fingers significatnly reduces grip strengh, requiring more pressure to maintain control of the tool.

What to do in case of injury

Should you cut your finger or hand, bleeding from minor cuts will often stop on their own by applying direct pressure to the wond with a clean cloth.

When to seek help

Visit an emergency room or hand surgeon if:

Continuous presure does not stop th ebleeding after 15 minutes You notice persistent numbness or tingling in the fingertip You are unsure of your tetanus immunization status You are unable to throughly cleanse the wond by rinsing with a mild soap and plenty of clean water.

For minor injurise after hours, see and OA provider at our Orthocare After Hours Clinic.