Cold injuries are common due to being in cold conditions for a long period of time. Low air and water temperatures, in addition to wind blowing, make it harder for your body to maintain regular body temperature. These combinations make people fall victim to these injuries. Cold injuries are put into three categories: decreased core temperature, freezing injuries of extremities, and nonfreezing injuries of extremities. The types of cold injuries are hypothermia, frostbite, and chilblain (pernio). There are many ways to prevent these injuries from occurring.
Athletic trainers offer several recommendations to help limit the risks to athletes and to provide immediate care when needed. They say it is best to perform medical screenings before athletes are exposed to the cold conditions to ensure the athlete’s history of cold injuries is known. This way, there can be a close eye kept on more vulnerable individuals.
Having appropriate medical personnel such as athletic trainers or sports medicine-trained physicians, at the events and practices is important because they are there to act immediately if they are needed. It’s also important to educate the coaches and athletes on the prevention, recognition, and treatment of cold injuries, along with the risks of physical activity in cold environments. Most people don’t understand that keeping skin covered is important to keeping regular body temperature.
The toes, fingers, ears, and skin should be protected at all times, especially in cold conditions where the wind-chill can cause frostbite in thirty minutes or less. Always let athletes warm up when they are cold so their body can recuperate. Athletes should try and maintain regular body temperature by layering their clothing to prevent heat loss
The human body losses heat through four different ways: radiation, convection, conduction, and evaporation. Radiation is when heat is lost directly to the environment and is more common at night when there is no cloud cover. Convection is heat loss that happens when air orwater move across bare skin, such as the face. Conduction is when you lose heat just because there was contact with a cold surface. Finally, evaporation can occur through breathing or when the skin is exposed. Just knowing this basic information can help people prevent cold-related injuries.
As an athletic training student aide I think it is important to know the signs and symptoms of cold injuries. You never know when it could help you or others around you. For more information visit NATA.org.
Jackie Johnston is a student at Penn Trafford High School writing for Channel One in cooperation with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Students from Penn Trafford will contribute to our blog from time to time on issues student athletes face.
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