Preventing cold weather injuries is a personal responsibility, cold exposure can cause multiple injuries, and the key to working safely starts with an understanding of cold weather injuries and the ways to prevent them. So it is really important to avoid injuries in winter and keep yourself injury free.
What are the risk factors that can contribute to cold injuries?
- Wind.
- Immersion and altitude.
- Duration of cold.
- Workload.
- Rain.
- Temperature.
- Snow ice.
Individual risk factors include:
- Fatigue.
- Previous history of cold injuries.
- Alcohol.
- Poor nutrition.
- Physical fitness.
- General health.
- Medications.
- Alcohol.
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What are the injuries that can occur in cold weather?
Immersion foot - It’s also called trench foot, is also an injury caused by prolonged exposure to wet conditions between 32 and 60° with damp socks and boots. Immersing feet in cold water, not changing the socks frequently, poor hygiene, and allowing sweat to accumulate in boots or gloves will soften the skin causing tissue loss and can lead to infection. Blood vessels constrict and the affected areas become cold, swollen, and discolored, there can be sensations of pins and needles, numbness, and pain in extreme cases, flesh dies and amputation may be necessary.
Chilblains - It’s a cold injury resulting from repeated prolonged skin exposure to cold and wet temperatures above freezing, exposed skin becomes red, tender, hot to the touch, and usually accompanied by itching. And this can worsen to an aching pins and needles sensation followed by numbness. Chilblains can develop exposed skin in only a few hours.
Frostbite - It can occur when skin tissue freezes through all skin layers, and it can freeze the muscle and bone, frozen skin turns red then grey and blue with blisters, and amputation is often required if the skin dies and turns blue-black at this stage. Instantaneous frostbite can occur when the skin comes in contact with super cold liquids like lubricants, fuel, antifreeze, and alcohol, all of which remain liquid at temperatures as low as -40°.
Frostnip - It is one of the top layers of skin tissue freeze, it is the 1st degree of frostbite, and this usually results from short-duration exposure to cold air or contact with cold objects like metal. Exposing the skin like cheeks, ears, fingers, and wrists are more likely to develop frostnip. The top layer of frozen skin becomes white and feels hard and rubbery but the deeper tissue is still soft, the affected area feels numb, and may become swollen, and frozen. Complete healing can take 10 days but the injury is usually reversible.
Also Read: Tips For Managing Chronic Pain In The Winter
Dehydration - It’s a lack of water in the body and most people associate dehydration with hot weather conditions. However, one can easily get dehydrated in cold weather and many people avoid drinking enough water and underestimate fluid loss from sweating.
Hypothermia - It’s a potentially life-threatening condition, defined as the general cooling of the body core temperature below 95°, the average body temperature is 98.6. Signs and symptoms of hypothermia change as the body temperature falls, and mental functions. Muscle functions deteriorate with shivering, and loss of fine motor ability such as being unable to control your hands followed by stumbling, clumsiness, and falling.
What are the preventions to take to avoid injuries in cold weather?
Anyone working in a cold environment must be properly prepared and should understand basic control measures to prevent cold weather injuries.
Here are some tips to prevent cold injuries:
- Avoid alcohol because it impairs your body’s ability to shiver and it gives a false sense of warmth.
- Avoid tobacco products, because they decrease blood circulation to the skin, and eat properly to maintain energy.
- Drink enough water to avoid dehydration,
- Drinking warm liquids like tea and hot chocolate that contains sugar provides energy to help the body generate additional heat,
- Restrict the portion of time outside on freezing days,
- Periodically move into a warm area,
- Wear proper clothing, several layers of loose clothing rather than one or two bulky layers because air is trapped between these layers and acts as insulation against the cold, the layers can be removed if you become too hot to prevent sweating,
- Loose clothing allows the blood to circulate to the extremity,
- Make sure all clothing is in good condition, clean and dry, and change wet damp clothes immediately,
- Protect your feet, carry an extra pair of socks, and change damp socks right away. Use foot powder to help absorb moisture.
- Wear water-resistant boots or overshoes to keep shoes and socks clean and dry,
- Protect your hands, wear insulated gloves, keep glows clean and dry change damp gloves immediately,
- Avoid skin contact with snow ice or any liquids or bare metals that have been exposed to the cold,
- Protect your head, face, and ears, and wear a hat as much as 70% or more of the body's heat is lost through an uncovered head.
Above all protect each other, watch for signs of frostbite and other cold weather injuries in your co-workers or anyone, and immediately get help for anyone showing any signs or symptoms of cold injury.
If you need help in Winter Injuries, reach out to Specialty Care Clinics. Our doctor will help you to manage chronic pain. Call 469-545-9983 for booking an appointment.