It seems like the best idea would be to warm them up as quickly as possible, but I’ve heard that’s not the right course of action. Why should you warm them up slowly? And what happens if they warm up too quickly? I’m from the Southeastern US, so I have no experience with extreme cold or frostbite, I’m merely curious
In: Biology
It’s not about you warming up too quickly. A very cold hand is also a numb hand, so you can’t tell how hot the water you’re putting on yourself actually is, so it would be very easy to burn yourself without realizing it until you’ve done serious damage.
Meanwhile it’s not really important to have the hottest water possible to warm you up quickly. Whether you’re trying to heat or cool something, moving water will get the job done quicker than standing water. It’s all about heat transfer. If you combine something hot with something cold, heat will flow from the hot into the cold until both items are the same temp. Moving water maximizes contact, which allows for much faster heat transfer.
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