This TikTok Avocado Hack Can Help Prevent Dangerous “Avocado Hand” Wounds
It’s so simple it’ll have you wondering what else you’ve been doing wrong your whole life.
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As any avocado fan will tell you, removing the pit from the tasty green fruit can be dangerous business. That’s in part because one commonly-used method involves cutting an avocado in half and then holding the fruit in your non-dominant hand so you can use a knife to strike the centrally located pit in an effort to remove it.
The big problem with this approach is that it can frequently lead to an injury dubbed “avocado hand,” which is when the knife you’re using to cut the avocado slips through the soft green flesh and ends up cutting your hand or fingers instead. This malady often occurs when people are trying to separate an avocado from its pit, since they are round and slippery.
Thankfully, TikTok has seemingly found an answer to all of our “avocado hand” troubles. In a video posted late last month, TikTok user Lily Roelofs (@lilyroelofs) shared a clever hack she’d seen on the social media platform a bit earlier. “So I saw this guy on TikTok push the pit out of the avocado and I’m going to try it,” she declares in the video.
Lily then slices the avocado in half vertically around the pit and takes the half of the fruit with the pit in one hand. She holds it securely, with the pit facing outward, and places her index finger and middle finger on either side of the circular center. Then, Lily seemingly presses down on the surrounding avocado flesh with those two fingers and uses the leverage from that maneuver to seamlessly free the pit.
The look of astonishment on her face as the pit easily pops out is a clear indication that this TikTok hack is one that works, and can spare many injured hands and fingers in the process.
Many TikTok users sounded off in the comments and confirmed that this trick is, in fact, pretty darn brilliant. “It works, I did it last night,” one user wrote. Another added: “It worked amazingly well.”
And a third shared what we’re all thinking: “It’s one of those things where in your mind you’re like, ‘What else have I been doing wrong this whole time?’”
And lest you think “avocado hand” is an exaggerated phenomenon, consider that many celebrities have fallen victim to it. For example, in June 2018, Joy Behar “stabbed” herself with a knife while trying to remove an avocado pit, and had to go to the emergency room to address her injury. That same month, Andi Dorfman sliced her finger while cutting an avocado and required surgery to repair damage to her tendons and nerves.
Believe it or not, legendary actress Meryl Streep has also been on the losing end of a battle with an avocado. In 2012, the Oscar winner cut herself while prepping an avocado and was seen at an event in New York to promote her film, Hope Springs, with a bandage on her hand.
Something tells us Joy, Andi, Meryl and many others will be very thankful to TikTok for spotlighting this hack!
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