The damage happens when you reverse that too fast
Each winter, the body's extremities stage a quiet protest — not against the cold itself, but against the haste with which we flee it. A biologist's explanation reminds us that chilblains are less a wound inflicted by frost than a consequence of impatience: the circulatory system, caught between constriction and sudden warmth, loses its balance and spills over. Winter, in this light, asks not for endurance but for gradual transition — a lesson the body has been trying to teach us all along.
- Los sabañones no son una enfermedad del frío, sino del cambio brusco: las arterias se abren de golpe al calentarse, pero las venas tardan en reaccionar, y la sangre se acumula hasta desbordar los capilares.
- El impulso de acercar las manos heladas a un radiador o sumergirlas en agua caliente es precisamente lo que desencadena la inflamación, el dolor y el picor característicos.
- Más allá de los dedos, las oscilaciones térmicas del invierno también paralizan los cilios respiratorios, favorecen la propagación de virus y reducen la luz disponible, afectando el estado de ánimo.
- La prevención exige paciencia: calentar las extremidades de forma gradual, evitar los extremos térmicos y, si los sabañones ya han aparecido, aplicar cremas con vitamina A junto a un masaje suave que reactive la circulación venosa.
El invierno llega y los dedos son los primeros en acusar el golpe. Aparecen pequeñas ronchas rojas, dolorosas y con picor. La mayoría culpa al frío, pero la bióloga Carolina explicó recientemente en redes sociales que el verdadero responsable es otro: la forma en que nos calentamos.
Cuando las manos o los pies se enfrían, el cuerpo cierra las pequeñas arterias que alimentan los capilares para conservar el calor. Las venas también se contraen. El problema surge al entrar en calor de golpe: las arterias se abren con fuerza y la sangre regresa rápidamente a los capilares, pero las venas, más lentas en reactivarse, no drenan al mismo ritmo. El resultado es un atasco: la sangre se acumula, el líquido se filtra hacia los tejidos y la piel responde con inflamación, dolor y picor intenso. Los sabañones no son una enfermedad del frío, sino de la transición brusca hacia el calor.
Prevenir es sencillo en teoría: calentar las extremidades de forma gradual y evitar el calor extremo cuando aún están frías. Si los sabañones ya han aparecido, las cremas con vitamina A aplicadas con masaje suave ayudan a reparar la piel y a despertar las venas dormidas.
El invierno afecta al cuerpo más allá de los dedos. El aire frío y seco paraliza los cilios de las vías respiratorias, dejando el sistema más expuesto a virus. La humedad baja permite que los patógenos se suspendan en el aire durante más tiempo. Y la reducción de luz natural merma la serotonina y la dopamina, generando esa pesadez de ánimo conocida como astenia invernal. Frente a todo ello, la mejor defensa sigue siendo la misma: abrigo por capas, alimentación cuidada, sueño regular y, sobre todo, evitar los cambios bruscos de temperatura que el cuerpo, en su sabiduría lenta, nunca termina de perdonar.
Winter arrives and the extremities suffer first. On fingers and toes, small red welts appear—painful, itchy, swollen. Most people blame the cold itself, but a biologist named Carolina recently explained on social media that the real culprit is something else entirely: the way we warm up.
Inside your fingers run tiny blood vessels called capillaries, responsible for delivering nutrients to tissue and hauling away waste. When your hands or feet grow cold, your body responds with a protective reflex. The small arteries feeding those capillaries constrict, shutting off warm blood to the surface so you don't lose heat. The veins constrict too. The capillaries empty out. Your skin turns white. This is the body working as designed.
The problem begins when you come inside. You want warmth immediately—comfort now. So you hold your hands near a heater, plunge them into warm water, or sit by a fire. What happens next is the mismatch. The arteries open suddenly and forcefully, flooding blood back into the capillaries at speed. But the veins, which control drainage, remain sluggish. They take longer to wake up. The result is a traffic jam: blood rushes in faster than it can leave. The capillaries overflow. Fluid from the blood begins leaking into the surrounding tissue because there is nowhere else for it to go. The skin responds with swelling, pain, and an intense itching sensation. These are chilblains—not a disease of cold, but a disease of the transition from cold to heat.
Prevention is straightforward in principle: avoid sudden temperature swings. Keep your hands and feet away from extreme heat when they are cold. Warm them gradually. But if chilblains have already appeared, the remedy involves vitamin A creams applied with gentle massage. The massage serves a dual purpose: it helps damaged skin repair itself, and the physical stimulation coaxes the dormant veins to open, restoring proper circulation.
Winter's effects extend beyond the fingers. Temperature swings stress the entire body. Respiratory infections spike during cold months because the air we breathe through our nose arrives unhumidified and unwarmed, which can paralyze the tiny hair-like structures in the nasal passages and airways that normally sweep mucus and viruses away. This leaves the respiratory system more vulnerable. The shift from cold to heat also triggers seasonal colds, general malaise, and allergies. Psychologically, the reduced daylight of winter depletes serotonin and dopamine, a condition doctors call winter asthenia—a heaviness of mood and energy that settles over people as the days shorten.
Air humidity plays a role too. When the air is dry, respiratory viruses suspended after a sneeze linger longer and spread faster. Humid air keeps those pathogens grounded. The practical defense against winter's full assault involves eating well, avoiding prolonged exposure to either extreme cold or extreme heat, dressing in layers, and maintaining regular sleep. These habits support the body's ability to regulate itself through the season's temperature swings.
Citações Notáveis
The real problem is not the cold itself, but how we warm up— Carolina, biologist
Winter temperature fluctuations affect the lungs, blood vessels, skin, and bones, particularly in people with joint conditions— Jenny Dávalos Marín, Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
So chilblains aren't actually caused by being cold. That's counterintuitive.
Right. Cold is just the setup. Your body's response to cold is protective—it shuts down blood flow to the surface to preserve heat. The damage happens when you reverse that too fast.
And that's why people get them after coming inside from the cold.
Exactly. You go from freezing to sitting by a heater, and your arteries open like a floodgate while your veins are still half-asleep. The blood has nowhere to drain.
So the pain and swelling is actually blood pooling in the tissue.
Yes. It's a circulation problem disguised as a cold-weather injury. That's why the fix isn't just healing cream—it's massage to wake up the veins.
Does this mean people in warm climates never get chilblains?
They can, if they experience sudden temperature changes. But yes, places without winters see far fewer cases. It's the transition that matters, not the absolute temperature.
And this affects more than just the skin.
Winter stresses everything—your lungs, your mood, your immune system. The cold dries the air, which paralyzes the defenses in your airways. Less daylight depletes your neurotransmitters. It's a season that demands more from your body.