When you feel that your extremities (i.e. your toes and fingers) are getting irregularly cold and itchy, you might want to start to think whether or not you have acquired chilblains (commonly misspelled as chillblains) or otherwise known as perniosis.
Poor circulation and an allergic response to the cold are usual causes of chilblains. Chilblains are itchy red and/or purple swells that appear on your toes and fingers. They are often painful and extremely itchy. Be careful not to scratch them though, for the condition may get worse. If you lack adequate hours of sleep or suffer from an imbalanced diet, you may also be a candidate for chilblains.
Once you have been submerged in cold temperatures for an extended amount of time, people may become vulnerable to this type of disease. Several hours after exposure, these small swells may appear. These are further aggravated by continuous exposure to the sun and because of these extreme temperature experiences, small arteries constrict and veins in your skin begin to swell because of this buildup of pressure. Sudden re-warming produces blood leakage into various tissues and thus swelling of the skin becomes a final, and a painful byproduct of the entire process.
What Are Chilblains (Perniosis)? (Signs And Symptoms)
This disease, however, is not usual in more extremely cold countries. As a matter of fact, chilblains occur mostly where it is temperate and the sudden cold is an affront to your body. People living in extremely cold places develop a natural protection against these cold temperatures. Those people who tend to live in normal temperatures are the ones who get chilblains when cold suddenly hits them and their bodies have little or no time to defend itself.
Chilblain also affect people who have very little personal physical exercise. More often than not, poor circulation of blood occurs when the body experiences very mild activity. It is in this state of dormancy that the blood no longer flows as smoothly as it should and therefore you become prone to chilblains.
If you believe that you have contracted. Chilblains, please be notified that you should not apply extreme heat or cold to the affected area. Keep the affected part in a moderate temperature and contact your local physician immediately. Chilblains are a localized form of vasculitis but have no permanent and severe effect and are very easily treated. Just be reminded that you should not scratch it in any way possible. Although it is very itchy, scratching it can make it worse.
