How To Treat a Dry Ice Burn

Dry ice has a kind of magical quality about it. It keeps your food ice-cold as it’s shipped across the country. It freezes warts at your doctor’s office. And it’s a crowd-pleasing special effect for handcrafted cocktails, spooky Halloween displays and high-tech concerts.

The results of coming into contact with dry ice can be equally dramatic — just not in a good way.

Dry ice burns can cause a surprising amount of damage from even minor contact. So, caution is key.

Family medicine physician Colleen Clayton, MD, explains what happens during a dry ice burn, how to treat one safely and when it’s time to get medical care.

What’s a dry ice burn?

Dry ice is the frozen form of carbon dioxide. It’s extremely cold — minus 109 degrees Fahrenheit (-78 degrees Celsius). It’s so cold that it doesn’t melt into a liquid, as an ice cube does. Instead, it transforms straight from a solid to a gas. That process is called sublimation.

If you touch dry ice in its solid state, it can freeze the top layer of your skin almost instantly. Your skin cells can’t survive that level of cold, so they start to break down. It’s similar to what happens in frostbite.

But the way a dry ice burn looks and feels can closely resemble a thermal burn, like you get if you touch a hot pan. A dry ice burn can cause:

• Redness
• Stinging pain
• Waxy or thick-looking skin
• Swelling or blistering

Your symptoms may not show up immediately, which is another thing dry ice burns share with frostbite. “Sometimes, the damage isn’t seen for up to a day after the original injury,” Dr. Clayton notes.

The risk doesn’t end with your skin. Perhaps even more damaging than touching dry ice is the danger that comes with inhaling it.

As dry ice sublimates, it releases carbon dioxide gas, which gives you that foggy wow-factor. Without proper safety precautions, you can end up breathing in more of that gas than is safe.

“You can get pretty significant damage to your lungs if you’re in a non-ventilated area,” Dr. Clayton warns. For that reason, you should also take care not to get your face up-close-and-personal with dry ice smoke.

Even minor inhalation in a contained space can cause symptoms like:

• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Difficulty breathing
• Loss of consciousness

First aid for dry ice burns

If you accidentally touch dry ice — even for just a second — you’ll want to act quickly to minimize the damage. Here’s what to do.

1. Step away fast. Most people pull back instinctively because the cold is so intense. Quick action helps prevent deep injury.
2. Warm the area gradually. You want to warm the affected area slowly over about 15 to 20 minutes. “Use lukewarm water or moist heat, like a heating pad,” Dr. Clayton advises. “Going too hot too fast can make the tissue damage worse.”
3. Avoid pressure on the area. The damaged skin is already fragile. Pressing, rubbing or squeezing can worsen tissue injury.
4. Look for blistering. Dry ice burns aren’t categorized by degrees like traditional burns. Instead, they’re described as mild, moderate or severe based on symptoms. Mild burns cause short-lived redness and pain. More severe burns can blister or look gray, waxy or discolored.

If your burn blisters and opens, you can apply a simple protective ointment, like petroleum jelly (Vaseline®). Dr. Clayton recommends avoiding medicated ointments if possible. Cover the area with clean gauze, and seek medical attention.

Also, contact a healthcare professional if:

• Your pain gets worse instead of better.
• Your skin looks gray, yellow, waxy or unusually thick.
• Redness and discomfort don’t improve after rewarming.
• You inhale dry ice fumes in a closed area and experience symptoms.

Mild dry ice burns should heal within a few days. More severe burns — especially those that blister — may take weeks to heal.

Preventing dry ice burns

Dry ice burns are typically preventable with the right protection. If you handle dry ice for your job, follow all safety precautions they recommend.

If you’ll be in contact with dry ice, be sure to:

• Use the right tools. Always use heavy gloves, tongs and face protection (to avoid exposure to gas).
• Limit exposure to metal. “If you’re handling dry ice, remove jewelry, like rings, ahead of time,” Dr. Clayton advises. “Metal can stay cold and keep damaging your skin.”
• Work in a well-ventilated space. Breathing in gas from dry ice can cause lung irritation in enclosed areas.

Dry ice can certainly look impressive, but always put safety first. Handle it with care, and seek help if your magic trick goes awry.