Lawn mowers terrify me
Yup, I’m afraid of those monster lawn mowers and they don’t have to be big ones to frighten me.
When I was a teen, a friend of mine had a stone buried in her knee; it was thrown up from a lawn mower. I also knew of a man whose son had cut his toes off with a mower. The funny thing is, I’m not scared for myself when I have to mow a lawn, I’m terrified for my not-so-kid-like kids and my husband.
It seems my fears are not for nothing and it’s not just hand pushed mowers, it’s also the riding type mowers that can cause injury. According to the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, there were about 100,000 lawn mower injuries in the United States in 2006, most of which were preventable.
For example, mowing on wet grass, particularly on a hilly area, is an invitation to slip and get caught in the blades of the mower. Even mowing on a hill in dry weather can be tricky, if you’re mowing in the wrong direction. Mowing with sandals on is a big no-no as they offer no protection should something happen and the biggest no-no of all? Flipping the machine over while it’s still running to see why the blades aren’t turning. That’s a sure fire way to invite injuries to your fingers or hands - or to have a hard object fling up from the blades into your face or eyes.
And of course, don’t forget the other ways that you can end up with pain - don’t overdo it when working outside. If you’re going to lift anything, like the mower, lift properly - with your knees, not your back.
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Tags: chronic pain blog, lawn mower injuries, pain blogRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Emergencies & safety
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