- Plastic surgeons recommend parents fit safety latches on to their doors at home
- Some 30,000 children trap their fingers in doors every year; 1,500 need surgery
- Fingertip injury alone can reduce hand strength by 20% and hinder careers
- Trapped fingers prevent tying shoelaces, using keyboards and even eating
- Other injuries that frequently occur at home include falls and kitchen burns
Children who trap their fingers in doors can suffer lifelong problems, plastic surgeons warn.
In some instances, trapping a finger as a youngster can lead to chronic pain, migraines, depression or even amputation in later life, according to The British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (Bapras).
Bapras advises patients fit safety latches onto doors in their home.
Around 30,000 children trap their fingers in doors every year, of which approximately 1,500 require surgery.
Self-shutting fire doors, car doors and hinges are the top three causes of such injuries.
Children who trap their fingers in doors can suffer lifelong problems, plastic surgeons warn
Fingers injuries can prevent people pursuing careers
Bapras recommends parents install small, C-shaped devices made of foam or rubber over doors to stop them slamming. These are not suitable for fire doors.
Hinge protectors are another option, it adds.
Bapras spokeswoman and plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London Anna De Leo, told the BBC: ‘The injuries are so serious that the patient would need to undergo a clinic appointment, an X-ray, day surgery, a follow-up nurse appointment and possibly physiotherapy.
‘Fingertip injury alone can result in 20 per cent loss of hand strength and can prevent people from pursuing their chosen career.
Ms De Leo adds people often underestimate the importance of their fingers in carrying out everyday tasks, such as tying shoelaces or using a computer keyboard, and should therefore be more careful.
Finger injuries aside, the most severe accidents that occur within the home are falling and burns, which tend to happen on the stairs and in the kitchen.
Boys under four are most at risk of such incidents.