Frost byte is the problem which is experienced by most of the people as they come in contact with excessive cold environment the problem of frost byte starts to appear in body parts such as fingers, toes, cheeks or ears. Why it happens and how you can manage it ? Let see.

Frostbite in foot

How and why frost byte starts in the body parts

Frostbite is a cold thermal injury which usually affects the extremities and has the potential of causing irreversible and potentially life changing tissue loss.

If a person gets exposure of a temperature below freezing point then it will lead to severe soft tissue damage, the extreme cold temperature can damage the soft tissue that are present in hands, face or exposed part of body.

Actually the conditon of frostbite usually affects the hands and feet, when temperature drops below two degree C then ice crystals are formed in the extra cellular fluids.

Then the water which normally presents intracellular compartment moves to the extracellular compartment that causing cell dehydration and cell death and cause frostbite.

How it progresses in excessive cold environment:-

Due to excessive cold death of tissue occurs and reduced perfusion of affected area.

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Reperfusion causes inflammatory process in affected area.

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That leads to ischemia in the affected tissue.

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Formation of ice crystals inside the cells if the freezing occurs very rapid again.

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Thromboxane A2, Prostaglandin F2, Bradykinin and Histamins are involved.

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Necrosis develops later, and thawing or freezing will worsen the situation.

Other causes or the risk factors of frostbite :

Inadequate circulation in freezing weather

Wet clothes

Poor circulation

Smoking

Diabetes

Peripheral neuropathy

Alcohol abuse

Increased heat loss

Windy environment

Dehydration

Peripheral vascular disease

Smoking

What are the symptoms of frostbite?

Cold, Numbness, clumsiness.

Change in skin colour- white, red or grey.

Hard or waxy skin.

In most of cases there will be blister which can be painless, you can see two types of blister in frostbite:-

Superficial lesion due to partial thickness injury that means the injury due to blister is not deep and the blister are white and clear in appearance in this case.

But in haemorrhagic blister injury is deep with lesion that indicates a full thickness injury.

What is the management of frostbite

First wrap the involve part of the body with clean dry cloth.

Warm the person or wrap a blanket to the person to keep warm.

Because rapidly warming at a temperature of forty to forty two degree Celsius for about fifteen to thirty minutes helps to reduce the injury.

Dont walk with the damaged feet or affected feet.

If the blister occurs & are clear and white then your doctor may remove the superficial layer of it.

And if the blister are haemorrhagic then your doctor usually drain the blister but leave the superficial layer intact because haemorrhagic blister are the sign of a deeper lesion and injury.

How body protects itself from cold

Body protects itself from cold by thermoregulation in this process the body tries to maintain a core body temperature, during extreme cold the body receives a signals from sensory receptors which presents in all over the body.

These signals will go up to the brain in the posterior hypothalamus which is responsible for regulating the body temperature, during exposure to cold hypothalamus helps to control the body’s core temperature. The anterior hypothalamus responds to heat.

Once the signal reaches the brain, after that brain sends a signal to body in order to respond the to cold temperature, this is important in order to provide the vital organs the necessary heat to function properly.

The brain also sends a signal to the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels of the skin and skeletal muscles, the smooth muscle cells line the arteries which means the layer of smooth muscles is presents in the wall of arteries and arterioles.

During cold the signals from the brain in respons to cold causes vasoconstriction of arterioles in the skin which allows the body to shift the blood to more vital areas of the body.

At below zero degree Celsius that is about 32 degree F, the blood vessels close to the skin starts to constrict which helps to preserve the core body temperature and another signal from the brain goes to skeletal muscles which quickly contracts them and causing shivering.

Actually it is an attempt of body that helps to keep warn as the body forces the muscles to work ( in shivering ) it break down ATP that will also release energy to warm up the body.