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11 Frostbite Symptoms to Remember Every Winter

Don’t ignore these.
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If you have frostbite symptoms, it’s like your body’s waving a red flag on behalf of your skin and potentially even the tissues beneath it. Frostbite can cause long-term damage to these areas if it’s not treated quickly enough. But if you don’t know what to look for, it can be easy to shrug off some minor frostbite symptoms as a regular part of venturing outside in freezing temperatures. Here’s what you need to know about frostbite, including the major signs of this condition—and how to take action if you notice them.

Frostbite happens when your skin literally freezes.

In some cases the underlying tissues can freeze too. Your skin and everything inside of it aren’t meant to freeze, so as you might imagine, severe frostbite has the potential to cause a lot of damage to your body, according to the Mayo Clinic. Serious cases of frostbite can lead to issues like long-term numbness in the affected area, joint problems, nerve damage, gangrene (when your tissue decomposes and eventually dies due to a lack of blood flow), the life-threatening condition hypothermia (when your body temperature dips below 95 degrees Fahrenheit), and more.

According to the Mayo Clinic, frostbite is most common on body parts like the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks, and chin. Since you’re probably not walking around in a full-body puffer that completely protects you from the elements, these are the areas most likely to be exposed. With that said, frostbite can impact skin anywhere on your body if you get cold enough, Nicholas Kman, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF.

Frostbite symptoms can be surprisingly subtle at first.

You might think it would be really obvious if your skin and various tissues below it were to freeze. But frostbite symptoms can fly under the radar, especially at first, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s because numbness is one of the earliest signs of frostbite, which can make it hard to realize anything’s wrong with the affected body part. Here’s the full list of frostbite symptoms to look out for, according to the Mayo Clinic:

1. Cold skin
2. A prickly sensation
3. Numbness
4. A red, white, blue-white, or gray-yellow tint to your skin
5. Warmth returning to your skin even as cold exposure persists
6. Skin that feels hard or looks waxy
7. Joint and muscle stiffness bad enough to make you clumsy
8. Mottled skin upon rewarming
9. Pain, stinging, burning, or swelling upon rewarming
10. In extreme frostbite cases, skin blistering upon rewarming
11. Skin that becomes hard and black

Frostbite symptoms actually develop in three stages.

It’s important to know the stages of frostbite so that you can get into a warm environment as soon as you notice trouble brewing, but also so that you know what kind of medical care to seek based on the level of frostbite you seem to have.

  • Frostnip: The most important thing to remember is that frostnip is reversible and doesn’t permanently damage your skin, Joshua Zeichner, M.D., a New York City–based board-certified dermatologist and director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, tells SELF. But it’s still not pleasant.

    This mild form of frostbite happens when your skin gets too cold but hasn’t actually frozen. Frostnip symptoms include the exposed body part feeling extremely cold, reddened skin, and numbness. These happen as part of your body’s natural reaction to the cold, which is to narrow blood vessels in your skin and reallocate blood to your core so your body temperature stays in a safe range.

    When your skin eventually heats up after getting frostnip, you might feel pain and tingling. This can be uncomfortable but is to be expected as regular blood flow returns to those areas.

  • Superficial frostbite: There aren’t hard and fast rules for how long it can take superficial frostbite to set in after getting frostnip. It depends on how cold it is outside and how long your skin has been exposed, Dr. Kman says. “In extreme temperatures, frostnip can progress to superficial frostbite in a matter of minutes,” he explains.

    Superficial frostbite can cause your reddened skin to become white or paler than usual, the Mayo Clinic says. Your skin may also start to feel surprisingly warm even when it’s still exposed to the cold. This can lull you into a false sense of security that you’re fine. But it’s the exact opposite. When your skin is damaged by frostbite, its capillaries (thin blood vessels) can burst and leak, Dr. Kman says. "Blood rushes in and inflammation occurs," he says. "This creates warmth, but this isn't healthy."

    If you rewarm superficially frostbitten skin, it may look strangely mottled instead of returning to its usual color thanks to those broken capillaries. You may also deal with stinging, burning, and swelling, as well as blisters that bubble up 12 to 36 hours after you rewarm your skin, the Mayo Clinic says.

  • Deep frostbite: If frostbite progresses past the superficial stage, that means it’s capable of affecting all layers of your skin along with the tissues below it, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    In this stage, your skin can take on a white, blue-gray, or gray-yellow color, and it might become so numb that you lose all sensation in the area, including that of cold or pain. If the cold has seeped into your joints and muscles, they may no longer work properly, so you might experience clumsiness. You may also develop blisters that form anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after your skin is rewarmed, the Mayo Clinic says. After that, the area can turn black and hard as a sign that your skin and potentially other tissues are dying. Deep frostbite is a serious medical emergency, and if you think you have it, you should seek help immediately.

You may be able to treat frostnip and minor frostbite symptoms at home.

If you have frostnip or a very mild case of superficial frostbite, DIY treatment may be enough, depending on your circumstances. You should still be prepared to seek medical help in case it starts to seem like your “minor” case of frostbite is actually something more involved.

If you’re treating frostnip or a minor case of superficial frostbite on your own, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends trying to gradually bring feeling back to your skin by putting it under warm water or applying a warm washcloth to the area. Don’t use hot water (test it first with an unaffected area of your body), and don’t rub the skin the way you normally might to warm it up, Dr. Kman says. Both can lead to burns and cause further injury. Don’t prop your cold body part in front of a heater or other form of dry heat, either, as this can also lead to burns.

There are a few ways to reduce the stinging, burning, and other forms of discomfort that can come with the rewarming process, according to the Mayo Clinic. You can take an over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen. Applying aloe vera gel or lotion to the frostbitten body part might help take the edge off too.

If at-home measures don’t help, seek emergency medical treatment.

If sensation doesn’t return after half an hour of rewarming your skin, you’re in a ton of pain, your skin starts to turn gray or black, or you develop blisters, it’s time to go to the emergency room. All of these signify a more intense level of frostbite.

Once you’re getting treatment, a doctor will evaluate you to see how extensive your frostbite is. This may include an X-ray, bone scan, or MRI to see if any bone or muscle has been affected, the Mayo Clinic says. Your doctor may attempt to rewarm your skin with methods like a warm water soak as well.

Unfortunately, the rewarming process can really, really hurt with extensive frostbite, Dr. Kman says. Your doctor should offer you some form of pain relief, like an NSAID, though Dr. Kman notes that sometimes more powerful drugs like opioids are recommended depending on the level of frostbite a person has.

Once your skin and underlying tissues are thawed, your doctor will likely want to get to work protecting them. They might do this by loosely wrapping the area with sterile coverings or elevating the body part in question to cut back on swelling, the Mayo Clinic says.

In some cases, that will be all you need to treat frostbite. But in more extensive cases, your doctor may need to remove dead tissue in some manner, whether that’s through whirlpool therapy (this sloughs off dead skin), surgery, or amputation, the Mayo Clinic says. Skin removal typically takes place one to three months after the actual frostbite so the doctor has more time to evaluate how much skin and tissue has actually died. You may also need oral antibiotics if your skin seems infected, or injections of drugs that break up blood clots to increase your blood flow and in the best-case scenario lower your risk of amputation, the Mayo Clinic says.

Preventing frostbite symptoms is easier than treating them.

While it’s possible to develop frostbite in skin that’s covered up, it usually happens in skin that’s exposed to harsh winter elements, Dr. Zeichner says. Here’s SELF’s guide to protecting yourself in cold weather, with a few key highlights for you below:

  • Dress in layers. In freezing temperatures, one layer just isn’t going to cut it, no matter how thick and cozy that layer might be. You should wear moisture-wicking, insulating, and windproof/waterproof layers. Surprisingly, loose, light layers are better than tight layers, which can actually make you more vulnerable to frostbite, as they may impact your circulation.
  • Protect your feet and toes by wearing two pairs of socks and waterproof winter boots. Again, your goals are to prevent yourself from getting wet, insulate heat, and shelter yourself from the wind, but don’t make your boots so tight that they might cut off circulation.
  • Cover your head and face with a hat and scarf. Don’t forget your ears and nose, which are some of the most commonly frostbitten body parts.
  • Protect your hands with insulated mittens or gloves.
  • Stay well-hydrated. Being dehydrated increases your risk of developing frostbite because it limits how well your body can produce heat.
  • Don’t spend more time than you need to in freezing cold winter weather. Dr. Kman sums it up nicely: “If you don’t need to be outside in extreme cold, don’t.”

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