Walking the dog is a happy chore for many people, but researchers have estimated that it is causing almost $50 million worth of hand and wrist injuries every year in the UK.
Women and over-65s are most at risk of suffering these leash-related injuries, which a study published in the journal Injury Prevention cost £23 million ($48.23 million) a year.
And the number of injuries has been rising as more people take up dog ownership.
Going over available evidence, researchers found 491,400 wrist or hand injuries had been sustained by dog walkers in the UK between 2012 and 2024.
Finger fractures (31 per cent) were the most common injury, followed by wrist fractures (25 per cent), finger soft tissue injuries (just over 24 per cent) and wrist soft tissue injuries (17 per cent).
Being pulled by a leash accounted for 68 per cent of the injuries, compared to tripping and falling (20 per cent), and getting tangled up in the leash (12 per cent).
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The authors did concede that walking a dog also offered many physical and cognitive benefits.
“Although this review does not show dog-walking to be an outstanding risk factor for causing hand and wrist injuries within the adult population compared with all other causes, it does highlight a significant number of such injuries to be attributable to dog ownership, particularly in the elderly and female population,” the researchers said.
“Teaching safer leash-holding practices, such as holding the leash in the palm as opposed to finger or wrist wrapping, or leash choice, such as avoiding retractable devices that can lead to sudden increases in tensile force at the end of their working range, may be recommended.”
Dog obedience training may also be helpful, they add.
