The Effect of Feet Immersion in Cold Water on the Physiological Responses of Japanese Subjects

Experiments were conducted on four healthy male and four healthy female subjects in an artificial climate room at an air temperature of 241°C and a relative humidity of 60%. Skin temperature of the right index finger, the arm, the forehead and the foot, as well as pain sensation, blood pressure, pulse wave etc. were measured before, during and after simultaneous immersion of both feet for 10min in water at 10°C.Following immersion of the feet, finger temperature declined in all subjects reaching a minimum value at 3min after which there was a rise of temperature. The amplitude of the pulse wave showed the same two phase change in all subjects reaching a minimum value at 1min. These results are similar to those from the Inuit (the Eskimo) reported by PAGE et al. (1953) and LIVINGSTONE et al. (1978).In all subjects, systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased on feet immersion. Both diastolic and systolic responses tended to be greater in male than in female subjects. Men experienced less pain than women following feet immersion

Anesthesia · Blood pressure · Forehead · Index finger · Anatomy · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Infrared Thermography in Medicine · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Surgery · Thermoregulation and physiological responses