Frostbite
“The body tries to compensate for cold and prevent heat loss by shunting blood away from the skin and the extremities to maintain heat near vital organs,” explains Ivan Miller, MD, medical director of emergency departments at Westchester Medical Center Health Network. “Those areas are allowed to get colder to protect the rest of the body.”
This is how your internal organs are safe, but your fingers and toes are suffering from this process. “If the temperature outside is below freezing, a toe or a fingertip might actually freeze,” Dr. Miller explains, an injury known as frostbite.
Symptom: You’re starting to feel a little bit of tingling or numbness in the fingers or toes and it takes just a couple of minutes for frostbites to strike.
Shivering
It doesn’t necessarily have to be very cold outside for you to start shivering. Of course, shivering is really annoying, especially when you’re holding your cup of coffee. You probably know that the reason why you’re shivering is your body’s way to say you’re freezing and by shivering your body warms itself.
“Shivering is many, many little muscle contractions that generate heat. It’s important to be mindful when you’re in the cold and feel yourself shivering,” Dr. Miller says. “You really should seek a warmer environment.”
