It’s going to be cold the next few days, so Houstonians who plan to be outside may want to be aware of the signs and symptoms of frostbite.
Signs and symptoms of frostbite include:
- Cold Skin
- Burning feeling
- Numbness
- Depending on the severity and your natural complexion, skin can change color to red, bluish, or gray
- As frostbite worsens, the skin may become hard or waxy-looking
How long do you have to be outside to be at risk?
“You can get frostbite in as little as 30 minutes,” said Dr. Benedict Ifedi, the Primary Care Physician with Memorial Hermann Medical Group.
Who is at risk?
“Any type of kid or adolescent. You actually lose heat a lot quicker by being out in the cold, exposed, not having layers, you’re going to be a lot higher risk for frostbite,” Dr. Ifedi said. “Then, if you’re older and you have comorbidities or if you have a lot of different illnesses, that’s going to put you at increased risk, especially if you’re actively sick. And we know right now (that) we have COVID, flu, RSV so you definitely want to stay home or limit your exposure to any cold.”
What are the complications?
“You can have an amputation. That’s the one thing we try to prevent, the biggest. And you can have tissue death, where basically things turn black because you’re not getting good oxygen to the tissue,” Dr. Ifedi said.
Frostnip, the first stage of frostbite, can be treated at home by slowly rewarming the skin.
Rewarm slowly by sticking your hand in warm water. Use the unaffected hand to gauge the water temperature, if it’s too hot to withstand the temperature, it could burn the affected hand.
If the skin is discolored, it could indicate tissue damage and needs to be treated at the emergency room.