Frostbite -"Ice Burn"
Frostbite is an injury to body tissue caused by exposure to extreme cold, typically affecting the nose, fingers or toes and often resulting in gangrene.
They are a few PREDISPOSING/RISK FACTORS that can help Frostbite to install faster into a body and these are:
- Hypothermia
- Dehydration
- Circulatory disorders
- Constricting clothing
Types of Frostbite
To do not be confused with Burn Injuries
1ST DEGREE - or "FROSTNIP" is the one that involves Epidermis and it has Redness and Pain. Sunburn is a good example in this category. The patient will fully recover and they will be no scarring.
2ND DEGREE - are also called as "SUPERFICIAL FROSTBITE" and can be Deeper when the dermis is involved or have Blisters and can last for a Longer period of time but the recovery can be in full with no scarring.
3RD DEGREE - the "DEEP FROSTBITE" is the one that has Damage to all layers and Destroys underlying tissues: muscles, bones, blood vessels. The healing is taking a much longer time because of the loss of extremities and scarring.
4TH DEGREE - when all the layers of the tissue are affected and the affected area looks like mummified.
FROSTBITE TREATMENT
- Rewarming of skin using a warm water bath for 15-20 minutes
- Pain relief medication
- Protecting the injury - wrap the area with sterile sheets, towels or dressings
- Removal (debridement) of damaged tissue
- Antibiotics
- Clot busting drugs - thrombolytics - such as Tissue Plasminogen Activator TPA which lowers the risk of amputation
- Surgery to remove dead or decaying tissue
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy - breathing pure oxygen in a pressurised room
How to prevent and protect
Frostbite can occur in very cold weather or conditions (where is snow and/or very low temperatures).
They can appear not only if the weather is very cold like on the North Pole but also in a cold room/freezer (at work) or by simply spending a longer time moving ice packs within the home freezer.
Some chemical substance can also give serious Frostbites when they touch the human body and no special equipment is used.
To protect from Frostbite use tick gloves and special equipment on multiple layers.
Hand warming packs (single use or multiple use ones) are also a good solution for cold weather to hold on hands.
Some electric heating plates can be used also (attached to an USB external battery) and some external batteries have hand warmers included to avoid frostbite.