Spring cleaning is a necessary evil this time of the year, but if you're not careful you could end up nursing a serious injury until summer. Dr. Tom Waters, an Emergency Department physician at Cleveland Clinic, says falls cause a lot of injuries each spring.
"If you take a significant fall and you're having serious pain or any deformity to a limb, or back pain, neck pain, you need to get yourself to the hospital as quick as possible," he warned.
Recommended Videos
Waters says serious falls tend to come off of a ladder, or when someone is standing on a countertop or ledge to reach high places. You can decrease your risk by always using a ladder on level ground and by finding a volunteer to hold it.
Cleaning chemicals can be risky too, causing burns or irritating the skin, especially if they are mixed together. The fumes alone could irritate your lungs and land you in the ER.
Cuts are also common. Hedge trimmers and pruning shears are typically to blame.
and Waters says your eyes are vulnerable when you're cleaning up, so make sure you're wearing goggles or glasses.
"Whether you're weed-whacking and a piece of dirt or mulch goes into your eye, or you're just pruning a bush and you bend down and take a stick in the eye, we see that fairly commonly," he added.
Waters says to keep your goggles on when you're cleaning inside, too. Splashing cleaning chemicals into your eyes can cause a serious injury.
