Cold Temperature Exposure

It's easy to get cold quickly if you are outside in wet, windy, or cold weather. Cold temperature exposure can also happen if you spend time in a dwelling or other building that isn't well heated during cold weather.

Injuries from cold exposure

• "Frostnip" usually affects the skin on the face, ears, or fingertips. It may cause numbness or blue-white skin color for a short time. But normal feeling and color return quickly when you get warm. No permanent tissue damage occurs.
• Frostbite is freezing of the skin and the tissues under the skin because of temperatures below freezing. Frostbitten skin looks pale or blue. It feels cold, numb, and stiff or rubbery to the touch. With severe frostbite, you may have blisters. You can also get a skin injury by touching cold items such as dry ice without wearing gloves for protection.
• Cold injuries, such as trench foot and chilblains, may cause pale and blistered skin like frostbite after the skin has warmed. These injuries occur from spending too much time in temperatures that are cold, but not freezing. The skin doesn't actually freeze.
• Eye pain or vision changes caused by cold exposure most often occur in people who try to force their eyes open in high winds or cold weather, or during activities such as snowmobiling or cross-country skiing. Snow blindness is caused by sunlight reflecting off the snow and can cause a corneal injury or burn. Eyelids may become red and swollen. Eyes may feel dry and like they have sand in them.
• An abnormally low body temperature (hypothermia) occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can make heat. Symptoms include shivering, clumsy movements, confusion, poor judgment, and cold, pale, or blue-gray skin. Hypothermia is an emergency condition and needs medical care right away to stop heat loss.

Risk factors for cold exposure injury

There are many things that increase your risk of injury from exposure to cold temperatures. They include:

• Being a baby. A baby's body heat is lost faster when exposed to cold weather conditions.
• Being an older adult. Older people don't produce as much heat energy. And they may have health conditions that increase their risk.
• Drinking alcohol. Alcohol may affect your judgment. For example, a person may not put on more clothing when it's needed if their judgment is affected by alcohol.
• Being in outdoor conditions, such as high altitudes or wet and windy weather, and not being dressed properly.
• Having wet skin, wearing wet clothing, or being immersed in cold water.
• Being exposed to cold temperatures in your workplace, such as working in cold-storage units.
• Having certain health conditions, such as:
  • Diabetes or cancer, or taking any medicines that may affect how you regulate your body temperature.
  • Hypothyroidism or Raynaud's phenomenon that make you react more strongly to cold temperatures.

Many people get cold hands or feet. You're more likely to feel cold easily if:

• You don't have much body fat. Fat under the skin helps keep you warm. People who have low body fat may be more likely to get hypothermia. Babies, older adults, people with health conditions, and people who aren't getting enough food often have low body fat.
• You smoke cigarettes or drink caffeine. Nicotine (from tobacco) and caffeine cause narrowing of the blood vessels in the hands and feet. This causes less blood flow to these areas, so the hands and feet feel cold.
• You're under a lot of stress or feel tired. Chronic stress or anxiety can cause your nervous system to release adrenaline. It narrows the blood vessels that supply blood to the hands and feet.