[grugagag]

When I was a kid we’d be spending a whole day playing in snow. When we’d come home in the evening with ice on the shoes, hair and cold hands and feet - but not as bad as getting real frost bites - would have a little warm up. My grandmother taught me to wash my hands with cold water at first then gradually add warm water. I still remeber cold water felt warm on frozen hands. Also many times when my hands were cold I’d make some snowballs, feel cold for a few seconds then my hands would start warming up really fast, like glowing with heat. I think there’s something to it, though being a bit cold and having frostbites is a big difference. I personally never experience any frostbite.

[graeme]

I think those are two different phenomena:

1. When your hands are really cold they aren't ready for warm water. If you start with cold water and warm it up you will figure out what your hands can handle and get to the point where you're safely adding heat. You might find the cool water is actually warmer than the outside of your hand to the touch.

2. If you hold snow blood rushes to the hand and the pumping feeling produces the sense of warmth

[smackay]

If you wear gloves, you'll always wear gloves - annec-data from the crew I used to go out with catching shorebirds, in Scotland, in the middle of winter. The glove wearers we unable to function within an hour of taking them off to band, measure and release the birds. The non-glove wearers were able to keep going for as long as it took.

[kuschku]

For some people[1], when their body temperature drops below a certain point, circulation in hands and feet is reduced. This helps heat the body core, saving organs while potentially sacrificing hands or feet.

At first this feels like a burn, then like someone's putting needles into your hands, and then they just go numb. You can't do precise actions with your hand anymore and soon you'll lose most of the ability to move it at all. You might even lose the body part. All while the core of your body is still warm and you're still able to walk and talk.

But as said, not everyone experiences this. For some people, when they get cold, their body increases circulation in the hands, keeping them warm enough to continue working no matter what.

________________

1. In extreme cases, this is called white hands syndrome or reynauds syndrome and primarily affects women. It seems to have a hereditary component, but worsens permanently whenever the hands experience cold or vibration.

[euroderf]

Do you have a citation for this ? I experience Reynaud's and it's more than a bit worrying.

[codingdave]

Are you trying to say that wearing gloves is a bad thing? Because while yes, you can get used to cold hands if you have good circulation, there is a point where you cannot function without gloves. If the temp is -20F with 20mph winds, you are not going to be functional in bare hands. Although sure, if you are talking about +20F with little wind, some people can work in mild cold like that all day.

[m463]

I keep my shower at the same temperature.

In the morning it feels hot.

But after hiking on a cold (not freezing) day the water feels SCALDING.

I suspect there are actually two "hot" shower types:

- the actual scalding shower with physical damage

- the "scalding" shower which is actually skin-temperature-sensor overload that is more psychological. It is more a accustomed temperature difference thing.

but below freezing / with frostbite, I have no idea.

[namaria]

Thermoception is indeed thought to be a response to heat flux rather than absolute temperatures. If the tissue is colder, water at the same temperature should warm it up faster and thus elicit a stronger heat perception.

[matsemann]

I think the "cold water first" thing is mainly to avoid scolding your skin while you're numb.

But man do I not miss the pain of coming home from ski practice and finally getting off the tight boots, feeling the warmth and blood finally return to my feet. Burned as hell.