1. Hypothermia Is More Dire Than Frostbite
Because they're both caused by cold temperatures, people often confuse frostbite and hypothermia. Although they can both be life-threatening, they're very different conditions. When your body's hypothermic, its core temperature has dropped below the normal 98.6 degrees F. Depending on how low your core temp goes, you can experience a variety of symptoms, and you can even die. When you've got frostbite, chunks of tissue on the outside of your body are completely frozen, but your body temperature is normal--unless you've also got hypothermia, in which case you're in serious trouble. When forced to choose, treat hypothermia before treating frostbite.
2. Nip Frostbite in the Bud
Frostbite doesn't happen all at once--your skin takes a while to completely freeze, so there are a number of warning signs you can watch for before suffering tissue damage. The earliest sign of frostbite is frostnip, which numbs your skin and turns it white. Frostnip feels tingly and is a little painful, but it's not as dangerous as frostbite and is easily treatable. You can fix frostnip by soaking the affected areas in warm (not hot) water and allowing them to slowly thaw.
3. Frozen Tissue Carries One Mean Bite
Full-blown frostbite is a serious condition requiring emergency medical treatment. The main sign of frostbite is white, hardened skin. It may be numb or, if it's started thawing out, tingly or burning. As the frostbitten skin warms up, it regains some of its original color, but its appearance will depend on how deeply frozen it is. The thawing process is almost always painful, however, due to the high concentration of nerves in your skin. After defrosting, the affected areas will likely be irritated and red, and may even blister. Severe cases of frostbite may even permanently kill your tissue, causing a condition called gangrene.
4. What Not to Do
Regardless of how painful, irritating or just plain unsettling frostbite can be, there are a number of things you should never do when trying to warm yourself up. First, don't rub the frostbitten area. This grinds the ice crystals in your skin into the surrounding tissues, which can cause serious and permanent damage. Second, if there's a chance that your skin could refreeze, don't thaw it out. Wait until you can warm the affected areas up and keep them warm before attempting to thaw them out.
5. Warmth Works Best
As with frostnip, slowly warming your frostbitten tissue up is the best way to prevent further damage. It's important to avoid direct sources of heat like fire, hot water or heating pads; since your skin's numb, you won't notice when one of these burns you, which only adds to your problems. Instead, soak your frostbitten flesh in warm water when available. If you can't get your hands on a tub of the wet stuff, wrap your skin in anything you can find that's warm and insulating. Finally, seek emergency medical treatment ASAP.
