Skin temperature of women: A prospective longitudinal study

INTRODUCTION

The different phases of a woman's life, such as the reproductive phase and menopause, are points of great hormonal oscillation, especially estrogen and progesterone, which can interfere with skin temperature.

OBJECTIVE

To describe and compare skin temperatures of women during their physiological menstrual cycle, the use of exogenous hormones and menopause over a period of 28 days.

METHOD

This is a prospective observational study using a quantitative approach. A total of 45 volunteers participated and were equally allocated into three groups: Exogenous Hormone Group (EHG), Physiological Menstrual Cycle Group (PMCG) and Menopause Group (MG). All were submitted once a week to body composition measurements over a period of 28 days using an InBody 120 bioimpedance scale, and skin temperature using a FLIR model T-360 thermographic camera.

RESULTS

No significant differences were found between the mean skin temperature of women with a physiological cycle using exogenous hormones and menopause in relation to the evaluation time or between groups. However, younger women had higher temperatures in specific skin regions, such as in the breast, lower abdomen and thigh (P < 0.05) compared to menopausal women. In addition, negative correlations were observed between body fat and skin temperature of the breasts, trunk, abdomen, upper limbs and right lower limb (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

It was observed that the general skin temperature of women is not altered due to exogenous hormones, menstrual cycle phase or menopause, and that skin temperature tends to be lower in regions with an accumulation of adipose tissue.

The immediate effect of whole-body vibration on rectus abdominis muscle activity and cutaneous temperature: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES

To compare acute effects of isometric abdominal exercises performed with or without vibration on the electromyographic activity and cutaneous temperature in the abdominal region of physically active individuals.

METHODS

A randomized controlled crossover clinical trial was undertaken in thirty volunteers who completed one unique session of two different protocols of interventions apart from a week from each other, in a two-week study protocol. The subjects were randomly divided in to two groups of 15 volunteers; both were assigned to perform board exercise (30 s on the front, right and left lateral boards, with a rest interval of 2 min). The first group performed it on a vibrating platform at a frequency of 30 Hz for the first week, while the remaining participants executed the same exercise without stimulates vibration. In the second week the protocol was inverted. The outcome were surface electromyography (EMG) data for the rectus abdominis muscle (RAM) and cutaneous temperature (CT) of the abdominal region. Normality was accepted, and Student's t-tests were used to compare the measurements for dependents variables (P < 0.05).

RESULTS

There were no differences in RAM activation and CT between protocols with or without vibration (P > 0.05). CT increased (P = 0.001) after both the exercises with and without vibration.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that there were no effects in cutaneous temperature or muscle activation through the use of vibration associated with isometric abdominal exercises.