I would think the body would heal when it gets warm or medical technology is advanced enough to allow some healing.
In: Biology
Frostbite is harmful because it entails body fluids (mostly blood and cell fluid) freezing, and ice has a few properties that make it very harmful when it forms inside the body.
First, water expands when it freezes. This alone can cause cell damage as cells expand and rupture their membranes. But this gets worse because another one of the body’s reactions to cold is narrowing blood vessels. Having expanding blood in a narrowing space means blood vessels will rupture and blood won’t get where it needs to go. If this goes on too long, blood flow to an area can stop entirely.
Second, ice is sharp. The ice crystals that form from frostbite are like tiny razors drifting through the body, tearing gashes in cell membranes and blood vessels.
These factors mean that many cells die from ice damage, and those that aren’t killed can, in turn, die from the reduced blood flow. And the dead cells are dead, they won’t be revived by rewarming, they’re just dead tissue that needs to be removed to prevent gangrene or sepsis.
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