Ever been struck by a cow?
Health database shows it happens more often than you might think
Next time you accidentally bang into a piece of furniture or bump into a wall, be assured you’re in good company.
In fact, 25,500 people sustained injuries by walking into furniture and 17,200 by walking into a wall in the U.S. in 2016, according to data collected by Amino, a San Francisco-based health care transparency company that aims to connect patients to better, more affordable care. Amino’s database of 9 million insurance claims covers nearly every doctor in America and billions in health care spending, according to the company’s website.
Every time you go to the doctor, your diagnosis is categorized under one of the ICD-10 codes, the International Classification of Diseases, developed by the World Health Organization. What was described by Amino as its “curious data scientists,” a team combed through some of the more unusual incidents to come up with this tally below of goofy sources of injuries that merited visiting a doctor or ER.
1,700 people were struck by a cow
700 patients were bitten by a horse
300 patients were bitten by a pig
200 patients were struck by a chicken
400 people walked into a lamppost.
10,600 people were accidentally bitten by another person
8,700 people were accidentally kicked by another person
As far as injuries related to balls (not by the human contact part of sports) basketballs caused the most in 2016 — not baseballs or footballs.
February and March are the unkindest months to be struck by basketballs — roughly 1,800 patients each; July had the lowest. For footballs, watch out in September and for baseballs: May.
529,000 patients were “bitten or stung by nonvenomous insect and other nonvenomous arthropods” in 2016; most of these were likely bee stings, some triggering allergic reactions.
162,100 people were bitten by a dog.
8,900 had contact with a workbench tool.
2,200 patients were injured by a nail gun and 3,400 were injured by a powered lawn mower.
600 patients were diagnosed with contact with a sword or dagger.