Doctors see it all when DIY projects go wrong

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Several times a year someone will arrive at Middlemore Hospital's emergency department with their eyes super-glued together.

They may have been glueing anything from tiles around the sink to a favourite vase. Typically, they got careless, got the glue on their hands and then rubbed their eyes. The result? A delicate operation in which the eyes have to be pried open and the gunk removed.

Fortunately accidents like that are comparatively rare, but every day people arrive at the hospital with injuries - often severe - resulting from a DIY disaster in the home, says intensive care specialist Bhavani Peddinti.

"It could be anything. Falling off a ladder, falling off the roof ... from injured backs to head injury to fractured arms.

"You know, when you fall off a ladder you can be killed instantly if your head happens to strike the ground at a certain angle. It gives a nasty jerking motion and you probably fracture or dislocate your spine," he said.

"People using saws manage to saw their fingers off, or the tips of the fingers, or take the nail beds off.

"Some people use nail guns and get the nail through their hands ... There are a large number of cuts to the fingers and palms."

Heel injuries can be severe. When people fall from a ladder or a roof and land on their feet they can end up cracking the heel, the hip and lumbar vertebrae.

Injuries caused by lawnmowers are common, and often difficult to repair.

"They come in every day," Mr Peddinti said. "Their problems range from minor cuts to major injuries."