A ^Retired Plastic Surgeon's Notebook

Seattle Plastic Surgeon (and mother of three) Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder you about lawn mower safety.

It was such a wonderful thing to get some yard work out of my offspring once that they were old enough to mow, rake, sweep, weed, water, trim, edge, poop scoop, etc.  As much as I loved the smell of newly mown grass and the thought of them working (instead of me), I worried.  I worried about the lawn mower thus the little nag session each and every time one of my boys was nagged into mowing the lawn.

Here is my list of lawn mower safety tips.

• • • • Only children over 13 should mow a lawn.
      • One person only should be on the lawn being mowed.  That would be the person behind or on the mower.
      • NO PETS unless it’s a rabbit you really wish you had never adopted.
      • Always wear socks and heavy shoes and gloves.
      • Always wear eye protection.
      • Ear plugs okay but not earbuds for listening to Bad Bunny’s greatest hits.  They need to hear you yell, “Watch out for the dog!”
      • No mowing until the offspring has cooled down from his/her rage at having to actually perform agreed upon chores for agreed upon bennies.  Rage and lawn mowers should never coexist.
      • If the mower malfunctions, turn it off and don’t even think about flipping it over unless a knowledgeable and responsible adult is present.
      • Leave sharpening to the experts.  Oh, unless you work in a lawn mover sharpening shop, you are not an expert.
      • No using the lawn mover for anything other than mowing the lawn.  This calls for a cautionary tale:  Two patients in the same day present with nearly identical lawn mower injuries sustained while attempting to trim a hedge with a lawn mower.  Patient #2  happen to see patient #1 (prior to his mishap) trimming his hedge with the lawn mower while Patient #2 was driving to get gas for his lawn mower and thought “Hey, what a great idea.” Not.  This cautionary tale was told to me by an esteemed colleague practicing in Spokane, Washington many years ago.  Being Spokane born and raised, I have every reason to believe it is 100% true.

Stay tuned.  One of these blogs I will tell you about my dad’s snowblower injury.  His bloody glove is still nailed to the wall of his shop some 30 years later.

Thanks for reading.  Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder

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