Being burnt by the cold is above all a question of feeling. However, for our cells, the consequences of cold can be the same as those of fire.
The sharp cold seems to burn the skin, sometimes we have this feeling. Indeed, the sensors sensory that are activated by extreme cold (temperatures below -20 ° C) are close to those activated by large heat (temperature above 44 ° C).
Frostbite or burn, the brain may confuse
The brain is therefore likely to confuse a frostbite alert with an alert burn. However, just seeing our hands in the snow can set the record straight.
So the cold does not burn? No, but in the extreme it freezes and finally, for our cells, the result is the same. If the brain may initially be wrong about the causes, he remains lucid about the consequences.
Blisters and redness due to the cold
When the body feels attacked by the cold, it mobilizes a maximum of blood to irrigate the vital organs and guarantee them a good functioning. The blood flow to the extremities is thus limited and they turn white. Superficial cells that are no longer kept at 37 ° C work less well … until they die. Redness forms and body water can collect under the skin, forming a blister. As is the case when you burn yourself.
Interested in what you just read?
Subscribe to the newsletter The health question of the week : our answer to a question you ask yourself (more or less secretly). All our newsletters
.
fs7