To know what you can’t do when frostbite of the limbs, face and other parts of the body should be any person living in a more or less cold region. Since even in a temperate climate winters are characterized by severe frosts, almost all residents of our country face a certain danger, therefore, the rules of behavior should be learned from childhood. At school, in the OBZh lessons (and then in the university curriculum) they necessarily tell what can be done, what is forbidden, they introduce the rules of first aid. Let's try to remember what students are taught. What actions should be taken to protect yourself from unnecessary risk in the winter.
What kind of trouble?
Before you figure out what should be the help with frostbite, you must first understand what is commonly referred to by this term. Awareness of the danger, the ability to timely preventive measures - the most important condition for maintaining their health. The prolonged influence of negative temperatures violates the structure of tissues, leads to the death of muscle cells, bones, ligaments. The stage, the scale of the lesions determine the specific picture of the pathology in each case.
It is customary to distinguish four stages, each of which has its own rules: what can and cannot be done, how to help a person. The fourth provokes a fatal outcome. This is observed if more than 5% of the epidermis is damaged due to low temperatures. In this case, blood circulation is disturbed, poisonous components accumulate in the vessels.
What can not be done with frostbite? Several answers will help clarify the situation, and the first rule is that rapid heating is prohibited. The stronger the defeat, the worse the results it will bring. Heat provokes vasodilation, toxins are even more actively absorbed into the circulatory system, all organs and systems are instantly poisoned. Doctors urge: when observing frostbite by all means, a rapid increase in temperature should be prevented.
No way!
The list of items that disclose what should not be done with frostbite begins with a ban on the use of tight shoes. This provokes the likelihood of a cold injury to the lower extremities, as the vessels are transmitted. In addition, there is no layer of air to preserve the natural heat of the human body. Squeezing not only increases the risk of frostbite, but also leads to significant tissue degradation if these processes have already begun. If the leg is already frostbite, it is strictly forbidden to wear such shoes until complete recovery! However, orthopedists will probably advise and completely abandon such products for their own benefit.
The second important item on the list of what you can not do with frostbite is to drink alcohol. This leads to a decrease in vascular lumen and is an increased risk factor. You can not only drink alcohol, already faced with frostbite, but also before going out into the cold, as this increases the risk of dangerous processes. Nicotine affects in a similar way, therefore it is recommended to refrain from smoking (at least in the cold).
Mindfulness is the key to health
If a person is forced to stay in conditions of low temperature for a long time, you need to regularly check how sensitive: the tip of the nose, ears, fingers. If there is a company, you need to monitor the shade of the faces of others. Unhealthy pallor indicates the onset of negative processes.
No moisture!
In order not to encounter frostbite, before going out, you need to check the dryness of the shoes. In no case should you wear wet things - this stimulates the loss of heat and makes the legs more sensitive to frost. If tormented by increased perspiration, you should be especially careful when staying in the cold for a long time. Wet skin and frost are constant travelers of frostbite. Knowing such a feature, you need to carefully choose not only shoes, but also socks. It is recommended to use special sports - they remove moisture from the body, thereby reducing the risk of negative effects of cold.
Helping, do no harm!
A long stay in the cold leads to a decrease in the activity of blood vessels. In the presence of secondary diseases, these conditions are exacerbated. The greatest danger lies in wait for children, the elderly. First aid for frostbite involves careful interaction with the victim. It is generally accepted that rubbing will help: this approach is categorically incorrect; it is forbidden by doctors! When the temperature drops, they just don’t use it, rubbing the affected areas: wool, ice, alcohol. This only stimulates infection and increases the chance of blood clots. In depth, the damage will be significantly more significant than if the area should not be touched until the doctor arrives.
The list of what should not be done with frostbite necessarily includes a ban on hot heat, including the local application of heated items. This leads to local expansion and negatively affects the tissues, stimulating necrosis.
Stereotypes and Rules
Surprisingly, the scientific prohibitions of what cannot be done with frostbite, and folk recipes that tell you what to do and even need to do, point to the same actions. Traditional medicine recommends rubbing the affected area of the skin with cream, oil, but doctors strictly recommend avoiding this. It is impossible to treat the epidermis in this way, which is already fragile and damaged, as this will only lead to even greater injury, necrosis. In addition, after such a procedure, pain and burning will bother for a long time.
Another important rule applies to heat. Helping with frostbite is carried out taking into account the possibility of formation of clots hazardous to health in the circulatory system. If a sharp heating is observed, this leads to vasodilation, and the blood clot can freely migrate inside the human body. This is very dangerous and even a risk of death if a vital artery or vein is blocked. To prevent such an outcome, it is necessary to warm up slowly: you can not sit near a battery or a bonfire, use heated warmers.
Accuracy is the key to health
According to some, good compresses and frostbite help are compresses, which include warming ointments that are irritating. Doctors pay attention: the opinion is categorically erroneous, the use of such compounds will provoke a thermal burn. You can not use alcohol solutions on the damaged area of the dermis, as this leads to a narrowing of blood vessels in this area.
Water: heals and cripples
Others believe that hot water can help with frostbite on the limbs. Clinical trials have shown that such a “help” leads to large-scale death of organic tissues and increases the likelihood of blood clots in the veins. The described method is especially dangerous for the elderly.
The influence of hot fluids provokes the activation of local blood supply, while the blood flow at the periphery is directed precisely to this area, but the tissues around begin to suffer from oxygen deficiency. It also stimulates necrotic processes, and the first first aid in case of frostbite, provided incorrectly, can lead to even greater damage than the lack of help at all. It must be remembered that necrotic processes are accompanied by active reproduction of pathogenic microflora. To prevent further infection, you need to apply an aseptic gauze, bandage dressing as soon as possible.
Helping, do no harm
It is believed that massage will help with frostbite. This is a fallacy: in no case should it be done, especially if the situation is difficult. But in the first degree and a small outbreak in rare cases, such a measure can bring help, but only if the doctor has already looked at the damage and recommended that he be massaged, and also explained how to do it correctly. It is not recommended to resort to this method on your own.
It should be remembered: all incorrect human actions can significantly aggravate the situation, not only in terms of short-term discomfort, but also a significant risk to life and increase the duration of recovery processes.
What is allowed?
And it is impossible, and it is forbidden. What to do? Everything is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. First aid to the victim - slow warming. The best option is to be in a warm room. A cup of warm sweet tea, but not too hot, will not be superfluous.
Next, make a compress or bath, gradually heating the damaged area. First, the water should be warmed up to 25 degrees, then gradually the temperature rises to 40. The limbs must be immersed in a liquid a couple of centimeters above the upper boundary of the damaged part. After that, the site is treated with a warm gauze multilayer compress using cotton, and the top is covered with oilcloth.
It is important! If any area of the skin has turned black, urgently need to contact traumatology. In the absence of such an opportunity, the patient should be taken to the doctor in a timely manner, it is necessary to call an ambulance. You can’t delay.
Frostbite: how to notice the beginning of the process?
At first, hypothermia manifests itself as light painful sensations in the affected area, tingling. Such a sign is the first one that people pay attention to. Having noticed it, it is necessary to take the first measures to prevent the situation from worsening, for a start - to move to heat.
Frost affects a person, leading to a decrease in overall body temperature. If the indicator decreases to 33 degrees, changes in the work of the heart are observed (they can be noticed if you immediately make an electrocardiogram). To identify the depth of the lesion, it is necessary to apply special clinical techniques. However, in the primary phase there is usually no profound change, the symptoms are very weak. As a rule, it is for this reason that people do not attach significant importance to it, they remain in the cold for a longer time, which already leads to serious damage and degradation of tissues.
Deep frostbite
This condition is characterized by the absence of pain and generally sensitivity of the affected area. Manifestations in each case will be individual, much is determined by a personal pain threshold. If the situation reaches the third or fourth stage, the patient loses consciousness, begins to rarely, shallow breathe.
One should not wait for the development of the situation to such an extent, measures should be understood as soon as cyanosis is observed, accompanied by pain in the area. Remember: preventing frostbite is much easier than curing its effects. And the unpleasant impressions associated with therapy are unlikely to be a source of positive emotions.