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For most of us, Christmas is a joyous and fun-filled time but, sadly, it is also a time when hospitals are overflowing with victims of the holiday season; people who have suffered injuries or illness that are either directly or indirectly related to the festive frivolities. The day after Christmas (known as Boxing Day in the UK and as St. Stephens Day in Ireland) often sees a peak in these holiday ailments. This might surprise some people but it's not so shocking when we look at some of the factors that conspire to make Boxing day (and the whole Christmas period) a risky time.

Common festive-related hazards:

- Alcohol-related injuries and illness. Many people overindulge at Christmas and we all know that too much alcohol can lead to some pretty nasty consequences. Our TV channels are full of ad campaigns aimed at stopping people from drink driving and that is certainly a threat to health at this time of year. Then there are people who suffer alcohol poisoning, or get into fights or have a misadventure whilst drunk.

- Food poisoning, especially from undercooked turkey. Great care needs to be taken when preparing and cooking poultry. A slight misjudgment may lead to food poisoning and a trip to your local hospital.

- Stress in the kitchen. Christmas is a busy time for the cooks in the household and often people entertain guests not only on Christmas day but also on Boxing day. Sometimes the cook may feel pressurized for time and people in too much of a hurry in the proximity of knives, ovens, boiling water and blenders can be a dangerous thing.

- Traffic injuries as people travel home after Christmas or venture out to the Boxing day sales. Treacherous winter weather can lead to nasty consequences, exacerbated by the fact that some drivers may still unwittingly be over the alcohol limit from the previous day's overindulgence.

- Shopping related injuries. There have been instances recently of people being injured in crushes in shopping malls as people go crazy over the bargains that are available. In one extreme instance, a Wal-Mart worker died, trampled to death by the hordes that poured into the store when the doors were opened.

- Injuries related to the use of Christmas presents. Doctors have stated that they expect an increase in Wii-knee cases this year, a phenomenon caused by people being too vigorous in playing on their games console. Indeed, the trend has been blamed on "fathers trying to keep up with their children on the machines"! Other injuries may relate

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