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Here's how to cut an avocado without slicing open your hand

While it sound like a joke, these injuries are serious—people are doing real damage to their nerves and tendons, which can take months to heal.

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The avocado. While the fruit is totally delicious (and full of those good fats) doctors are finding it's surprisingly hazardous—we're talking emergency room visit hazardous.

According to a recent report from CBS News, people are ending up in the hospital with serious injuries from failed attempts at slicing into an avocado. "Avocados are becoming a much more popular fruit and a dish people feel more comfortable preparing,"Sheel Sharma, M.D., clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, told CBS News. "I've definitely seen an increase in the number of injuries to the hand from slicing avocados." They call it, "Avocado Hand."

While it sound like a joke, these injuries are serious—people are doing real damage to their nerves and tendons, which can take months to heal. All in pursuit of the perfect guacamole or avocado toast.

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Thankfully, it's not that hard to avoid this scary risk. "There are really two things to keep in mind before cutting an avocado," says Regan Miller Jones, R.D. The first is that fact that the fruit itself is super soft but trying to slice straight through it means you'll run into the rock-hard pit. "That often leaves the untrained slicer a bit 'off balance' when slicing."

The second thing to remember: Holding anything in your hand while you're cutting it is never a good idea, she says. "Rather than cupping an avocado in your hand to slice into it or trying to scoop out the pit with your knife, it's best to stand the avocado on one side with one hand," says Miller Jones. "With a sharp knife in the other hand, cut down the avocado lengthwise around the seed." After you've done that on both sides, open the avocado up and scoop the pit out with a spoon or your fingers—don't use your knife. "Stop holding an avocado in your hand while cutting it," Miller Jones says. "That's what cutting boards are for."

With that much-needed primer out of the way, check out these 10 fun ways to use avocados, as well as everything else you ever wanted to know about this super fruit, right down to its nutritional breakdown. Let the avocado toast-making commence!

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