ST. LOUIS — It's happened to nearly all of us at some point; slipping and falling on the ice. For several people in St. Louis, those spills have landed them in the doctor's office after Thursday's ice storm.
"We are seeing a variety of weather-related injuries," Dr. Mollie Spire with Total Access Urgent Care said. "Everything from fender benders, to slips and falls. We even had a patient who was trying to get her car door un-iced and when the door opened, it hit her right in the head."
Dr. Spire said that patient ended up with stitches and was certainly not alone. At Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Dr. Poirier, a Washington University Emergency Medicine Physician says their department treated 20-30 people with weather related ailments.
"They're coming in with ankle fractures, wrist fractures, hand fractures, we've seen some head injuries and that can be very dangerous for people on blood thinners," Spire said. "We've seen shoulder dislocations and upper arm fractures and even a couple of hip fractures and dislocations as well."
All three doctors 5 On Your Side spoke with for this story recommended wearing shoes with good traction to avoid slip-and-fall injuries.
If you do find yourself on your way down to the ground, Dr. Andrew DeMars a SLUCare Emergency Physician at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital said, "If you're going to fall, avoid hitting your head or face, obviously. If you could try and land on your shoulder that would be better, like how football players take a tackle."
Dr. DeMars said if you are falling backwards, try your best not reach out your arms to catch yourself, that is how most wrist injuries happen.