I know this thread is kinda old, but I didn't want to start a new one. Anyway, I was dumb today and now have frostbite. I went out for a short barefoot run and it was about 16F or so with single digit wind chill (from what I thought I heard on the radio, but my wife said it was only like 8-10F this morning). Anyway, started off on the roads on an Airforce base and was gonna go to their rubberized running path (2 mile "loop"), but when I got there, it was covered with frost and snow in a lot of places, so after running about 25 meters or so, I decided it was too cold to be on ice/snow and decided to run the roads instead. At that point, everything felt great...not pushing it too hard for a change (and still had an 8:40 something/mile overall pace) and feeling really light. When I got to the distant end of the road, I decided to run back on the concrete walking path/sidewalk and didn't get too far before I saw a patch of snow/ice, but it was only about 1/2-1" deep and only about 30ft long, so I ran through it and kept running. Not to far again, there was more snow/ice but maybe only about 20ft long, so I kept going. It kept repeating...some decent stretches without snow/ice and then some short patches of snow/ice. Whenever I ran through the snow, I would feel some stinging from the cold, but it wasn't too bad. I did lose a little bit of feeling on my toes, but kept curling them to make sure I could still do that and feel the ground with them. I have lost a little feeling in my toes before on cold runs, but it was never a problem and this run didn't feel too much different other than the stinging cold going through the snow. I think I may have had "frostnip" in the past years since upon warming, they stung/hurt pretty good, but I never got blisters (surface skin would peel a little bit after, but it wasn't anything major). Anyway, when I finally got done (3.4 miles at 29:30), I went inside the base gym and my feet felt fine although still a little numb. Got to my car and put the heat on while driving to my office and went to shower. Everything felt fine until the shower...and that's when the burning started (which I kinda expected). Anyway, it was hurting pretty bad for the first few hours of work and then started feeling better, but still with some pain. Figured my feet were a little swollen and pushing on my boots. I eventually took my boots/socks off to check my feet and noticed blisters! That was a big downer cuz I was already reading info online about frostbite/frostnip and that was one of the big differentiating factors. Anyway, planning on trying to get to the Dr. tomorrow to have my feet looked at. They don't bother me too much right now unless I put pressure on the blisters or stretch the skin by walking on them. If I walk with my toes extended off the ground...no real pain at all, but I can't do that at work since I have to wear my boots. Anyway, anyone who has experience with "mild" frostbite...does the dr. really do much? Should I worry about it since it's not causing too much pain? How long is the recovery normally? The weather is supposed to be really nice come Sunday and next week and I want to try to run in the nicer weather and esp want to get some Slackline time in, but walking on a 1" webbing with blisters on my toes doesn't sound pleasant.
Thank You.
Frank
BTW, included pics since I know how much they are appreciated. On the pics showing the bottom of my feet. They are a little dirty since I didn't want to scrub them too hard, but they have been washed. The only part on the bottom of my feet that bothers is on the pads of the center toes. The "discoloration" on my big toe and ball of foot is mostly dirt and from the flash of the camera I think. I was just kinda touching my toes and stuff right now and I think I do have a small blister on my left big toe on the inside/top mostly on the side but maybe a little on the bottom. Kinda weird that my little "pinky" toes are completely fine. Also, one more question...I've notice this on other cold weather runs, but it seems like my left foot always gets colder than my right. Anyone else notice one side colder than the other or is it just me?