Self Care Articles

Is this your symptom?

• Frostbite is a cold injury to the skin
• Affected areas include fingers, toes, feet, nose, ears and cheeks
• Symptoms range from cold, tingling and painful skin to white, hard or numb skin

Symptoms of Frostbite

• Cold, tingly and painful skin.
• Pale, hard, numb skin. It can be serious. It always needs medical care after re-warming.

Cause of Frostbite

• Health Conditions. You are more likely to get frostbite if you have Raynaud's Disease, diabetes or have had frostbite in the past.
• Clothing. Wearing wet clothes makes frostbite worse. Touching bare hands to cold metal during freezing weather can cause frostbite right away.
• Length of Time in Cold. You are more likely to get frostbite the longer you are in freezing weather. Wind-chill causes you to get frostbite quicker.
• Other Causes. Some medicines, smoking, alcohol and recreational drugs all raise your risk of frostbite.

Frostbite Severity. Frostbite can be described like burns:

• Frostnip(mild frostbite). Cold, tingly and painful skin. No skin changes after re-warming.
• 1st Degree. Pale and hard skin while frozen. Mild redness and swelling after re-warming. No blisters.
• 2nd Degree. Same as 1st degree, plus blisters after 24 hours.
• 3rd Degree. Blood-filled blisters leading to long-term skin damage and scarring.