How to Prevent and Treat Frostbite

Avoiding Frostbite While Hiking

When you’re hiking in cold weather, it’s fairly easy to get a mild form of frostbite if you aren’t prepared.  The first areas to be affected are the nose, ears, fingers, and toes.

The first step to preventing frostbite is insulation. This is similar to preventing hypothermia, where you make sure you are wearing a proper layering system and drinking and eating enough water and calories.

But even if you’re layered properly, you can get frostbite on exposed areas in high wind environments.

Cold and wind are a deadly combination. This is why it’s often a good idea to have every inch of your body covered. Even a tiny portion of exposed skin can get frostbite. Wearing proper winter clothing is your best defense against frostbite.

How Do You Protect Your Nose from Frostbite?

A lot of frostbites can happen on the face, especially the ears and nose. One of the best ways to protect your nose from frostbite (and your whole face) is by wearing a face mask. There’s more than one way to keep your face and nose warm, such as scarfs and balaclavas. but I find face mask to be a lot more secure and cover more areas. I really recommend the facemask by Seirus. These masks are wind/waterproof and have large enough breathing holes so they don’t get damp from your breathing. Check out the Seirus mask on Amazon. You may also like: Tips For Safe Hiking This Winter

Can You Get Frostbite with Gloves On?

Just because part of your body is covered, doesn’t mean you can’t get frostbite. You can still get frostbite while wearing gloves in extreme weather. The warmest gloves for preventing frostbite, aside from heated gloves, are mittens with liners. You can even add heat packs to keep your hands warmer.

Can Vaseline Prevent Frostbite?

Does vaseline help frostbite? In some cases yes. Vaseline acts as a small windshield, locks in moisture, and soothes the skin. Putting vaseline on lips, ears, and face has been a practice among runners and cyclers. Of course, if it’s cold and windy enough, or so much will help. It’s not a bad thing to carry on your trips anyways to prevent dry skin in general, but it’s not something I would personally rely on to prevent frostbite.

How Long Does It Take to Get Frostbite?

The temperature at which you get frostbite and how fast you get frostbite depends largely in the windchill.

The chart above taken from the National Weather Service calculates how fast frostbite will occur on the human face. At freezing temperatures with wind speed as low as 15mph, frostbite can occur as soon as 30 minutes.

The 3 Stages of Frostbite

Before you learn to treat frostbite, it’s best to understand its 3 stages. The 3 stages of frostbite are:

1. First Degree – affects only the outer layer of skin and is temporary
2. Second Degree – Blisters form but deep tissue is not affected
3. Third Degree – Muscles and nerves are affected and big blisters appear

You may also like: Do You Need to Worry About Bears in Winter? How long does frostbite take to heal? Healing will depend on the degree of frostbite, which can take 1-3 months.

First Degree

The first degree of frostbite is called frostnip. Frostnip is a mild form of frostbite that only affects the outer layer of skin. The skin will pale or turn white, red, or yellow, and feel numb. Early signs of frostbite include pain and tingling. Frostnip is temporary and does not result in permanent damage. Long-term effects may include some insensitivity to the affected areas, which will heal.

Second Degree

During the second stage of frostbite, the skin appears reddened and turn white or pale. The deep tissue remains soft and is not affected. If the skin feels warm, this is a sign the frostbite is coming more serious. At this stage, you can expect blisters to appear 1-2 days after. These blisters may become hard and turn dark and usually heal within a month. The area may become permanently insensitive to heat and cold.

Third and Fourth Degrees

During the 3rd and 4th degrees of frostbite, deep freezing occurs. The muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves are all affected. The person may experience numbness and lose all sensation in the affected area. Large blisters will appear 1-2 days after. The frozen area will turn black and hard.

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Treating Frostbite in the Field

During the early stages of frostbite, the affected area can be easily reheated with the help of another person via skin to skin contact. To treat frostbite in early stages, place the cold body part up against another person’s warm body part. Place cold feet against warm bellies, tucking fingers under armpits, or holding frostbitten cheeks in warm hands.

Chemical warmers such as Hot Hands can be an easy way to help rewarm the body. These heating pads come in different sizes. They can be fitted inside your boots, pockets, and jacket to help warm chilled body parts.

If the frostbite is more severe and medical help is not available, rapid warming in warm water is the best treatment. Immerse the frostbitten body part in warm water warmed to ~105 degrees Fahrenheit. If you do not have a thermometer to test the temperature, you can test the water by dipping your elbow into it. The elbow should feel warm, like a hot bath, but not too hot. Keep the frozen body part in the water until it is thoroughly thawed.

There are some considerations to know before making a decision to rewarm a body part in the field.

1. If the body part thawed and refrozen, it is very likely to result in greater damage. If the frozen body part doesn’t have adequate protection, rewarming may not be a good idea.
2. Thawing frozen feet will incapacitate the victim, making them unable to walk. The rest of the group will be forced to carry them out if no help is available. Walking on frozen feet will most likely result in little or no further damage.

Keep in mind that rewarming a deeply frozen body part is excruciatingly painful. It may be best to keep the person in a stable condition until medical help arrives.

When to Call for Rescue vs Treat in the Field

Knowing which frostbite cases can be managed in the field and which need evacuation is the single most important decision on a cold-weather trip:

• Field-manageable: First-degree frostnip on fingers, toes or nose. Skin white or grey, still pliable. Feeling returns within 10–15 minutes of gentle rewarming.
• Evacuate as soon as possible: Second-degree frostbite with blistering. Hard skin that doesn’t rebound when pressed. Numbness that persists more than 30 minutes after rewarming.
• Evacuate urgently: Third- or fourth-degree frostbite. Skin white, waxy, hard like wood. Blue-black discolouration. Areas don’t thaw with gentle rewarming.
• Never thaw then re-freeze. If you can’t keep the area warm after thawing, DON’T thaw — walk out frozen. Re-freezing causes far more tissue damage than walking on a frozen foot for a few hours.
• Call for help via satellite beacon. Cell service in winter backcountry is unreliable. Garmin inReach / Zoleo are the field standard for SOS.

Rewarming Technique

• Skin-to-skin warming. Fingers in armpits, toes on a partner’s stomach. This is the gold-standard field rewarming method.
• Water at 37–39°C (98–102°F). Only if you can maintain that temperature for 20–30 minutes. Too hot = burns on numb skin.
• Never direct heat. No fire, no heat packs directly on skin, no hair dryer. All of these burn frostbitten tissue.
• Never rub the area. Old advice; completely wrong. Rubbing damages crystallised tissue.
• Expect pain on rewarming. Significant pain as blood returns is normal and usually a good sign. Pain relievers (ibuprofen) help.
• After rewarming, don’t use the limb. A rewarmed foot is not a walking foot. Immobilise until you reach definitive care.

Gear That Actually Prevents Frostbite

• Mittens over gloves. Down-filled mittens with a liner glove underneath. Fingers share heat; 30% warmer than gloves alone.
• Chemical hand and toe warmers. A $1 hand warmer in each glove/boot extends cold tolerance by hours.
• Face masks / balaclavas. Exposed cheeks and nose frostbite first. Cover them before you feel cold.
• Vapour-barrier liner socks. Plastic bag over a thin sock inside a thicker sock. Odd but dramatically warmer for multi-day cold.
• Insulated boots sized for heavy socks. Tight boots restrict circulation = cold feet faster. Half a size up in winter.
• Goggles in cold wind. Prevent cornea frostbite — yes, that’s a thing at -20°F with wind.

Additional Field FAQ

How fast can frostbite set in?

At -18°C (0°F) with 30 mph wind, exposed skin can frostbite in 10–15 minutes. At -29°C (-20°F) with the same wind, it drops to 5 minutes. Wind chill matters more than temperature alone.

Can you use body heat to rewarm someone else’s frostbite?

Yes — it’s one of the best field rewarming methods. Bare chest-to-hands or stomach-to-feet contact under a shared sleeping bag is a classic rescue technique.

What about hand warmers — do they really work?

Yes. Air-activated hand warmers produce 40–60°C for 6–8 hours. Keep them in glove backs (not directly against skin) so they warm the air layer. Toe warmers go on top of toes inside boots.