Frostbite: Signs and First Aid

Frostbite is an injury caused by freezing. It most often affects the nose, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers or toes. It can cause permanent damage, and severe cases can lead to amputation.

Signs

• The skin may turn white or grayish-yellow.
• It may feel firm or waxy.
• The area feels numb.

What to do

Get medical care. If it isn't available right away:

• Get into a warm room as soon as possible.
• If you can, don't walk on frostbitten feet or toes — walking adds damage.
• Put the area in warm, not hot, water, or warm it with body heat — for example, frostbitten fingers in your armpit.

What not to do

• Don't rub it with snow, and don't massage it at all — that causes more damage.
• Don't use a heating pad, heat lamp, stove, fireplace or radiator — the area is numb, so you could burn it.

Sources

Based on "Frostbite," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, drawing on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.