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How to avoid frostbite

warm-hands1.jpg“Don’t go far,” Frank Simon’s mom called as Frank and his three friends set out to ski the backcountry from a lodge at Paradise Inn, Wash. It was a sunny day, but the temperature on the lower slopes of Mount Rainier wouldn’t climb above freezing.

The boys’ route through the woods and up a gentle slope didn’t seem long to Frank. But Bill Wright, his best friend, was wearing thin gloves instead of thick mittens. After an hour or so Bill said in a frightened voice, “I can’t feel my fingers!”

Frank looked at them. They were white and extremely cold to his touch. Frank told Bill to put his hands in his own armpits, against his skin, until the fingers were rewarmed.

Bill did and was able to ski back to the lodge. He was lucky. He’d suffered no permanent damage.

COLD BITES

Frostbite is tissue damage caused by freezing. It comes in three types: Frostnip, superficial frostbite and deep frostbite.

Frostnip is not true frostbite, just supercold skin. It looks pale and feels cold. Sometimes frostnipped skin apprears as a patch of white on your cheeks or nose. As soon as you see this, cover the cold spot with your warm hands.

If your fingers or toes are affected, do as Bill did. Stick them inside your clothing, next to your wam skin, until they rewarm and appear normal again.

Superficial frostbite is the term for cold-damaged tissue that hasn’t frozen solid. When you push carefully on the cold skin, it’s still pretty soft. It looks like frostnip, but when you rewarm it (the same way you rewarm frostnip), fluid-filled blisters develop.

Don’t pop these blisters. Cover them with a clean dressing and be careful to keep the skin from freezing again. This person needs to see a doctor.

Deep frostbite occurs when tissue has frozen solid. The skin is no longer soft. It feels like ice. Unlike superficial frostbite, you don’t want to rewarm deep frostbite. It can be very painful, and a doctor should oversee it. Insulate the area to keep it from thawing or freezing even more, and get the person to a doctor as soon as possible.

PREVENTION

You can protect yourself from frostnip and frostbite by:

  1. Wearing mittens. They hold more heat than do gloves.
  2. Being especially careful to wear winter boots that fit. Don’t cram extra socks into summer boots and think that will keep your feet warm. If your feet are too tightly smushed into boots, warm blood can’t get to your toes.
  3. Drinking plenty of water and snacking often. Your body turns water and food into fuel to warm you.

frostbite3.jpgREWARMING NO-NOS

Do not rub frostbite to rewarm it. Rubbing causes more damage. Do not hold frostbitten skin near a fire or another source of high heat. High heat causes more damage, too.

20 Comments on How to avoid frostbite

  1. bobdabuilder // November 26, 2015 at 1:34 pm // Reply

    it was helpful 😀

  2. You got to learn to get used to the cold. as they would say in Alaska when I was in paratrooper training, Suck it up trooper!!

  3. im going on the klondike on the week end of the 29th. that will probly come in handy.

  4. 8900000000000000 // August 21, 2010 at 3:45 pm // Reply

    I wonder if what would happen if you got frostbite on your hand and then stuck it in fire. Would your frostbite be cured? Would you burn your hand?

    • no, it would not be cured, you would burn yourself and the pain would be phhemonimal. i thinks thats how you spell it.

  5. Hey “Master”, it’s next to impossible to DIE from frost bite. You can lose your digits, or even a whole leg or arm (in really bad situations), but you can’t die from it. You’re thinking of Hypothermia, that’ll kill ya easily.

  6. i almost died of frostbite, but mario came t my rescue

  7. cheapmoneyman // January 29, 2010 at 4:44 pm // Reply

    wicked im going on a camping trip next weeked. hopefully i wont have to use this info, but it might be handy!

  8. campingfreak // October 23, 2009 at 1:24 pm // Reply

    Now I know what to do if I get frostbite!Thanx

  9. yeah! frostbite is and can be pretty bad

  10. Oh, and frostbite is not so good if you get it so stay warm.

    P.s.Hi

  11. It is very interesting that the cold air could cause so much trouble!

  12. Girl-Scouter // December 9, 2008 at 12:06 am // Reply

    Wow this really helps me with my next camp trip
    since its gonna be like -20 degrees

  13. philmont 09 75 // June 16, 2008 at 9:29 pm // Reply

    When I was at a klondike derby a kid from another troop had sneakers on and bad equipment he was showing signs of hypothermia so my troop leader had to take him to head quaters and he was in bad shape from then on sneakers have been banned everyone most wear boots it pays to stay warm hypothermia can happen to anyone

  14. ducky 10444 // June 2, 2008 at 10:33 pm // Reply

    this may become useful. thanx boyslife

  15. AWesome stuff

  16. thanks for the info BoysLife Mag.

  17. Awsome. If your fingers get cold form a fist in your glove and remember to keep on moving (I find the most useful thing). Don’t go into the warming house unless you’re about to die. Otherwise you won’t learn how to deal with the pain and cold.

  18. cool!

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