Frostbite: Causes and Prevention

I love when it snows here in Oregon. I live in the valley so It only snows a few days out of the year, but when it does I enjoy it tremendously. Of course I don't like to drive in it too much, but seeing those flakes come down is just beautiful. One of the reasons its so beautiful and not dangerous is because we have shelter from it. When I was a boy I loved to play in the snow for hours and then come into the house for some nice hot cocoa. I remember one thing my mom used to say before I went outside, she would say "remember to cover up your feet well; you don't want to catch frostbite". I would always respond even though I didn't know what frostbite really was, I did know that it didn't sound to fun however.

Frostbite occurs when tissues freeze. This happens when one is exposed to conditions that are below the freezing point for skin. Frostbite has been a problem for thousands of years. Armies in the past have had frostbite be one of their biggest battles for survival. Officers would freeze up their hands and feet then warm them in the fire every night. By the next morning they would be frozen again, this is known as the freeze-thaw-freeze cycle. This cycle can be very harmful to your system. Frostbite used to be mainly a military problem, but has become a problem in general. A target age group fro frostbite are males between the ages of 30-49 years old. Frostbite can occur on your toes, cheeks, fingers, nose, and ears. Frostbite begins when you're exposed to severely cold conditions for a long amount of time. Your body sends various signals to your arms and legs telling them to constrict; this slows the blood flow down. As this process continues your extremities become colder and colder as the blood is flowing to your vital organs. Your blood vessels then begin to dilate. Frostbite then occurs as ice crystals form in the space outside of the cells. Water is lost from the cell, and dehydration then destructs the cell.