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Why did people rub snow on frozen feet?

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2024-11-15 22:00:03

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If you read old books from cold areas, it's not infrequent to run across the idea of rubbing snow on one's feet when they got frozen or frostbitten. However, subjectively, it seems to me that this would only make the wounds worse. Having lived my whole life in places where it gets cold, the best way I know of taking care of frostbite is to warm up the member.

Was there any logic behind this practice (rubbing frostbite with snow)? Is this method encouraged / discouraged by modern medicine?

According to Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries: Prevention, Survival, Rescue ... By Gordon G. Giesbrecht, James A. Wilkerson, the treatment gained popularity in the Napoleonic Wars because

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