Come Away with Me

Chilblains

Call me ignorant but i've never heard of this word until i googled it a minute ago.

I was having dinner with a lady friend when the conversation came to if we wear socks to sleep during winter. Ever since late Nov, i've been wearing socks like 24 hours a day, to work and to sleep cos my toes are always the first to freeze in cold weather. So when little red spots started appearing on my toes about a week back, my first thought was i overdid the socks wearing bit and there isn't enough ventilation for my poor feet. And when those red spots started to swell and got itchy and even hurt a little, thoughts of evil fungal growth inevitably came to mind and boy you bet i was terrified!

So when my friend found out about my itchy toes, she let out a loud laugh and said ”テリーサちゃん、霜焼け霜焼けだよ”. Now I've heard this word before as i frantically searched my Japanese vocab database and yes! It's frostbite!

My instant feeling was one of pure relief now that i know it's not some hideous fungus trying to multiply on my feet. But wait, it's winter here yes, but it's not even that cold yet (average abt 12 degree),i am nowhere near high altitude and i have frostbite, sounds like a joke even to myself.

It was when i searched for 'frostbite symptoms' that i realised that in the Japanese language, or rather the electronic dictionary i rely on, there is only one word '霜焼け shimoyake' to for the various symptoms related to exposure of the skin to cold weather.

Below are some simple definations i found from www.emedicinehealth.com:

Frostnip

Frostnip is a nonfreezing injury of the skin tissues, usually of the fingers, toes, ears, cheeks, and chin. Numbness and tingling are present, but no tissue injury occurs. Symptoms develop when blood vessels supplying the affected tissues narrow because of the cold temperature. Frostnip occurs at temperatures of about 15°C (59°F).

Chilblains

A more significant nonfreezing injury from exposure to cold temperatures is chilblains. As tissue temperature drops below 15°C (59°F), tissue injury progresses. The walls of small blood vessels break, and the tissues swell. Small, itchy, painful red swellings appear on the skin. (This is it! The cause of my many days of worrying.)

Frostbite
Frostbite is the DESTRUCTION of body tissues due to freezing (at 0°C or 32°F). Ice crystal formation in the tissues breaks apart cells, thereby destroying the tissues.
(Now this sounds real serious!)

Well perhaps it's not that surprising after all why i've never known what chilblains were what with my limited winter experience and cos you'll never ever develop such symptoms back in good old sunny Singapore!

posted by テレサ @ 9:41 PM