Memories of the 28th Century

I have a mind that tends to associate things. Today it is rather chilly and windy around here, and I happened to notice a guy with a nose ring. I don’t usually think about piercings, but my mind put together the coolth and the metal in his nose, and I wondered how that might feel, not that I really want to know that. That brought to frostbite.

I usually forget such vagrant ideas when I get into doing something else, but this afternoon I spent about twenty minutes outside, and it was uncomfortably chilly, but it wasn’t cold (cold being defined as temperature below twenty below zero). When I got in front of a computer again I started looking for information about people losing earlobes because their earrings conducted heat too well. I was expecting to find a few case studies, but they didn’t show up. Maybe there aren’t any, because the piercings become so painful when it gets notably cold that people remove them, or the possessors may simply stay in warm, place.

I have never been an enthusiast of jewelry, so I don’t clearly remember what rings feel like in extremely cold weather, I believe that they are not a problem until one becomes so cold that frost bite is imminent. One of the relevant factors is the amount of exposure (skin area) that is in contact with the cold metal. There probably are photos of people, who let their nose rings get too cold, but I didn’t find them, and I’m not sure that1 I want to find them. Ears that look like Van Gogh’s don’t appeal to me, nor do noses with chunks gone from the sides, but one of the advantages of septum rings is that people wouldn’t see the damage, and it would be less likely that there would be damage.


There is a story posted on Bloomberg (link below) suggesting that there might be problems with people freezing today (Sunday 2/15/2015) and overnight, because it is predicted that it will be rather chilly and windy. Fortunately, it suggests that it would take half an hour for frost bite to set in, and one can do a lot in that much time. There is an average of 1300 deaths from exposure annually in the U.S.A., so a day like today probably is significant to some people. But people can die from exposure at much higher temperatures, because exposure isn’t just a matter of becoming cold; it is also a matter of the body not being able to recover. I don’t know the maximum temperature from exposure to kill, but it is well above freezing.

The Wikipedia article reminded me of the Swedish girl who recovered from having her core body temperature dropped to 55 F’ yes fifty-five. People can die from hypothermia with a much higher temperature. It is best to avoid situations where one might become that cold. Recommended techniques include remaining in a well heated building or moving to a tropical area where the temperature never drops below seventy degrees. There are other ways, but those are the best methods.

Some student of material science or anatomy could do a study of how many gold and silver rings and or studs will drop body temperature by how much at certain ambient temperatures.

But if frost bite is threatening you, then keep moving and remove your nose ring.




http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1...-earrings-skin
http://tattoo.about.com/cs/psafety/a/aa111603a.htm
http://www.pacificbodyjewellery.com/..._piercings.htm
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/frostbite/article_em.htm

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...t-for-u-s-east

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6151a6.htm
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor...etting-Go.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia