Article provided by Canada’s new First Aid and USA’s New First Aid Kits and Preparedness websites.

image by Nicholas T

Although there are people who flee when colder weather arrives, most of us who live in northerly areas do enjoy winter.  There are a number of sports, such as skiing, sledding, and ice skating that make getting outside in winter a lot of fun.  Snowmobiling and ice fishing also have plenty of devotees who wind up spending a part of their winter outdoors.  However, being outdoors in winter does pose challenges for your body, and the cold temperatures can result in frostnip or frostbite under certain conditions.

Frostnip

Frostnip occurs when vulnerable parts of the body are subjected to temperatures that are lower than freezing.  You’ll be most likely to see frostnip happening to the fingers, toes, cheeks, ears, and the nose.  When you’ve been outside too long, your body will do its best to conserve heat by making the blood vessels in non-essential parts become narrower.  Less blood will go to your hands and feet and more will stay around your heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.  Because less blood is reaching the ‘outlying’ parts, they will quickly become less warm and more susceptible to frostnip.

When frostnip occurs, ice crystals will form beneath the skin, and the area will usually look white and feel hard to the touch.  The tissues under the frozen skin are still soft, however, and there is no tissue damage.  Frostnip can be treated at home by warming the area in warm water.  If you don’t have warm water, you can use your hands to warm up your nose and face, or stick your hands in your armpits to warm frostnipped fingers.  Never rub a frostnipped area, and do not put snow on it (a truly harebrained idea).  When I was a teenager, one of my toes was frostnipped.  I warmed it on the radiator, and I can tell you that it was agonizing as it thawed.  It would be a good idea to give the person with frostnip aspirin or acetaminophen to help with pain control.

image by Bragg's Untrained Eye

Frostbite

Frostbite is much more serious than frostnip and will require medical attention.  Frostbite is the next stage after frostnip if the area isn’t warmed up.  Frostbite causes the tissues and blood vessels to freeze solid.  It actually sucks the liquid out of your cells, causing the cells to die.  Frostbite can extend right to the bone and can cause the death of the affected tissues and often leads to amputation.

When you have frostbite, the area is hard with no soft tissue underneath, as is the case with frostnip.  The area will be white or grey in color and there will be absolutely no feeling in it at this point.  You should be aware that as the frostbitten area thaws, the pain will be even more extreme than that which occurs with frostnip.

image by simpologist

When you or someone else has frostbite, get to a warm spot right away.  Frostbite will have to be treated by a doctor, but the area can be warmed.  Do not warm the frostbitten spot if you won’t be able to keep it warm, because if it freezes again, even more damage will be done.   Frostbite will have to be evaluated by a doctor, and usually the area will return to normal after a certain length of time, sometimes weeks or months.  However, amputation could be called for if gangrene develops.

Preventing Frostbite

Dressing properly when you go outside in winter is one of the best ways to prevent frostnip and frostbite.  Wear layers of loose clothing rather than tight clothes, and two pairs of socks are much better than one.  Use a hat and scarf, or even a balaclava, to keep your head warm, and when the weather is really cold, mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.

Snowmobilers often make a round of the area bars, but drinking alcohol just makes it more likely that you will suffer from frostbite since alcohol lowers your body temperature and constricts the blood vessels even more.  If your clothes get wet, change them right away, as wet clothing draws body heat away.

Although you are probably unaware of it, we all walk around with a thin layer of warm air around us which helps to protect us from the cold.  When it’s very windy, this layer is blown away, so even that little bit of protection is gone.

Being sensible about your clothing and limiting your time outside in winter when there’s a wind or when the temperatures have fallen far below freezing will go a long way to preventing frostnip or frostbite.

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