MILWAUKEE – Metro Milwaukee hospitals are already reporting people coming into emergency rooms showing cases of frost bite.

Dr. Christopher Asandra with St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee says, "We’ve seen some mild cases of frost bite already setting in."

Dr. Asandra says the very young and very old and the homeless seem to suffer the most. he explained what frost bite actually is, "…when the skin or the tissue under the skin freezes. That causes cell damage. when you’re exposed to extreme cold for too long, this causes constriction of the blood vessels."

He says just like burns, frost bite happens in three degrees. he says it’s time to head inside or get warm if you notice symptoms of first degree frost bite, or frost nip. "You’ll see your skin turn white or blanchy and actually go numb."

Dr. Asandra says anything worse than that and a medical professional should take a look at it. "usually we categorize it with second and third degree frost bite. second degree being when the skin becomes white or blue, feels hard, feels frozen, and is blistering. Something just like a secondary burn actually occurs. That’s probably when you should go see a doctor."