I've been doing quite a bit of riding in the snow this winter, including an almost-sub-zero bivvy ride last night. This morning I noticed a scattering of pinprick-sized dark brown spots on my hands, which appear to be under the skin, I'm guessing these are tiny blood clots? Has anyone else had something similar, and was it harmless or the precursor to something nasty?

Do your blood capillaries not burst or something when you go from extreme cold to warmth? Might just be that….tip of the day would be keep an eye on it and if no change in a week cut your hands off or go the docs.

could be mild frostbite! Is the surrounding skin either; blistered, peeling, red, yellow, waxy?

I got a big blistered bit of nastyness on my RH index finger the other night cycling home in wet gloves, very painfull but no nerve damage so more likely chillbains.

The rest of the skin on my hands looks fine, they feel a bit numb and tingly but nothing too debilitating.

only one way to be safe.

Thanks for that Mrmo. I'll have to reciprocate by emailing you a photo of a middle-aged tummy/a divorce petition/some teenagers in hoodies/a seized freewheel/*insert current STW morbid fear of choice here*. 🙂

mrmo was fingerprinted…

Yeah brown spots are often a precursor to much larger black blobs. The whole hand then goes black before gangrene finally sets in. Amputation is often the only way to stop this spreading up the arms – and beyond 😉