What are chilblains and what causes them?
Chilblains (sometimes called pernio) are small, itchy, painful, red swellings on the skin. Chilblains are thought to be caused by an abnormal skin reaction to cold. They tend to occur on the ‘extremities’ that more easily become cold. That is, the toes, fingers, nose, and earlobes. However, other areas of skin sometimes develop chilblains when they become cold. For example, the heels, lower legs and thighs (especially in horse riders). Chilblains are common. It is thought that about 1 in 10 people in the UK get chilblains at some stage in their life. It is not clear why some people get chilblains when their skin gets cold. It is probably due to ‘poor circulation’ in the extremities (toes, fingers, etc). The tiny blood vessels under the skin narrow (constrict) when the skin becomes cold. The blood supply to areas of skin may then become very slow. As the skin re-warms there is some leakage of fluid from the blood vessels into the tissues. In some way this causes areas of inflammation an
