Fighting the Frostbite...

The chilly air slashing your face like knives, hands getting numb, ears freezing up and threatening to fall off, everyone who has faced snow will be aware of these sensations.

Winters put most of the world at the mercy of chilly air, snow or sleet. Cold injuries are common in these seasons. Let’s face the chill with Themedguru...

Many of us, especially the youngsters do not realize the might of the cold air until we face it. Any kind of cold injury is the result of extreme or overexposure to cold.

Commonly there are two kinds of cold injuries:

Localized Example: frostbite, which if left untreated may even lead to gangrene or amputation.

Systemic Example: hypothermia, which if severe may result in death.

What Causes Cold injuries?

Lack of insulating fat in the body, wet or inadequate clothing, old age, drug abuse, any form of cardiacdefine disease, smoking, fatigue or stress, hunger and excessive alcohol intake are all causes of cold injuries.

Frostbite is caused when ice crystals are formed in the tissues and expand the extracellular spaces. This normally happens when the patient is exposed to most dry temperature far below freezing.

Hypothermia is caused when chemical changes occur in the body, slowing the functions of major organs. This would normally be caused because of exposure to cold weather or a near drowning experience in extremely cold water.

How Do We Identify a Cold Injury?

There are distinctive signs and symptoms, which can help us identify and subsequently help a patient suffering from cold injuries.

In case of frostbite, a patient may have a superficial or deep injury. Frostbites normally affect the skin, especially the face and ears, which are more exposed to the wind. Some frostbites may go unnoticed at first and even the patient affected may not know. However the moment the is back in warmth, symptoms like burning, numbness, swelling will emerge. Many times the skin will turn into a blue –gray colour. Frostbite if remains unattended for long, may cause severe pain and skin blisters. And in extreme cases it may cause gangrene.

Hypothermia can be light (body temperature around 95°F), mild (between 89.6°F and 95°F) or severe (between 86°F to 89°F). If a patient suffers from Hypothermia, his speech would be slurred; there would be severe shivering, signs of shock, lack of response, pupildefine dilation, muscle rigidity and quite possibly amnesia too. In case of very serious hypothermia, the patient may appear dead with no palpable pulse and heart beat,

What should we do to help someone in case of cold injury?

A patient suffering from any kind of cold injury is in immediate requirement of rewarming. Severe injuries may require trained medical help and experimentation would only cause deterioration in the condition of the patient.

Any kind of constrictive clothing and jewellery should be removed from the body of thepatient suffering from frostbite. Warm fluids at regular intervals and if possible warm water to immerse the body in, would be quite helpful. Unfortunately, the pain actually starts after rewarming, so some kind of painkiller should be given. Sometimes maceration may occur, in which case, sanitized cotton should be used. If there is any open skin injury, tetanus and antibiotics must be administered.

In the case of severe Hypothermia, CPR may be needed. Sometimes the patient appears to be dead and gives no sign of life at the beginning. Cases have been seen where the patient responded to CPR only after 2-3 hours. Rewarming through warm fluids and immersion in warm water can be given if no open wounds are present.

Cold injuries can be avoided and with every possible precaution. Appropriate clothing like thermal innerrwear should be used. Proper food and fewer intakes of smoke and alcohol help as well. So gear up before you step out of the house to face the chill!