It wasn’t until moving to Maine that I experienced what many refer to as chilblains. I did a bit of searching around and I believe these things are also called pernio. Have you ever had chilblains? I’m sure you have. If you live in the north and if you’ve ever walked around outside during the winter in Crocs or cold boots with no socks on, I’m certain of it.
Chilblains isn’t (or aren’t) some weird disease. It’s a sort of frostbite people get when they expose their toes, fingertips, nose, and other sensitive parts of their bodies to the cold and then, quickly, the warmth. If you ask around, you’ll find a very specific set of circumstances that need to occur in sequence in order for this ailment to appear. For me, all that needs to occur is for me to be walking around the house with no socks on during the winter, exit the main house into the vestibule, slip off my warm Crocs and on my cold ones, and then wander around in the snow for a bit to grab either some firewood or the mail. Anything, really. What triggers the chain reaction is my feet transitioning from something warm to cold (the change of shoes). And after that, very cold (the snow). If that’s all that were to happen, things may be fine, but no, I always need to complete the job. After my toes have frozen, I’ll reverse the order. I’ll remove my feet from the snow-covered Crocs and place them back into the semi-warm ones I had left behind earlier. Then, I’ll walk back inside to wiggle my naked toes near the wood stove that’s cooking nice and hot. Mission accomplished – chilblains will be sure to follow.
Simply put, chilblains form because of the warm to cold and back to warm transitions. It’s got something to do with blood vessels or the like.
A day or two after I do all these things, my toes will begin itching like mad. In Laura’s case, her toes will begin aching quite a bit. Her pain keeps her up at night while my itching is a mere nuisance. Another day or two, everything goes away and I remind myself to avoid walking around outside wearing only Crocs during the winter. I suppose if I had the ones that didn’t sport the big air holes in them I’d be fine, but I don’t. I own a pair of “outside” ones that I’ve been using for over 15 years. They’ve now earned themselves a wear hole at the bottom too, so I’ll likely throw them in the trash soon.
They say that chilblains, or perniosis, primarily afflicts those who are sensitive to the cold or those who have poor circulation. They also say that people who have an iron deficiency can suffer from them. I have neither, but my actions are oftentimes obnoxiously careless, so I’m deserving. Other folks who aren’t nearly obnoxious with their actions are the ones we should feel bad for. Imagine your toes aching to the point of tears, all from something you really had nothing to do with.
I’ve read that rubbing the toes with Vicks Vapor Rub can help because it’ll increase blood circulation where it’s needed most. Laura says that soaking her feet in warm water with peroxide does the trick. I have no idea of the ratio or why that would help, but she seems to swear by it. The goal for us really is to wear socks throughout the day as responsible adults would and to avoid running around outside, “just for a second” with freezing cold shoes on. If we want to quickly run around outside, warm the shoes up inside first. Seems simple enough.
