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Understanding the Dangers of Frostbite While Hiking


It occurs most often in the feet or more precisely the toes as a result of cold wet feet in tight boots (i.e.  poor circulation). Some of the other common sites are the exposed extremities of the ears, face and nose.  It can happen in the hands and fingers, but not as often as you would think because of our ability to easily place our hands in a more environmentally friendly area.  Most often it’s a combination of cold temperatures (temperatures must be below freezing), wind, and moisture.  Often a misunderstood hazard in the outdoors because it has a tendency to sneak up on us, frostbite is defined as the actual freezing of human tissue.  Even though the fingers are similar to the toes with limited circulation and mass, the hands are more prone to contact and flash frostbite than prolonged exposure.  

 That could be placing your hands on your ears, fingers in your armpits or feet on someone’s belly (not the easiest proposition to make). For partial thickness frostbite the best method is to soak the frozen part in 100 to 105 degree water until thawing is complete.  Note: keeping the water temperature constant is important but difficult with a frozen body part in the water, so do your best. For full thickness frostbite thawing can be done in the same way as partial thickness.  It is extremely bad to refreeze a body part; it will completely destroy the tissue and guarantee amputation.  

The thought in the medical community is to insulate and keep it frozen until you can properly treat it without the chance of refreezing.  Because frostbite is the actual freezing of tissue, what happens are crystals form in the fluid between cells which draws fluid out of the cells and then dehydrates them.  As the body part re-warms the crystals then evaporate resulting in vasoconstriction and further dehydration.  

The skin will usually look red and blebs will often form.  Soaking helps minimize the damage from dehydration.  Thawing is complete when color and sensation return.  

This is a very painful process and care should be taken not to allow the person to use the thawed body part until a doctor has checked it out.  Because there are crystals we never want to rub frozen body parts, so as not to slice and dice or do damage internally. For frostnip one of the best ways to re-warm is skin to skin contact.  

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