Abstract
Background: Increased facial warmth sensations could lead to thermal discomfort, and different facial regions may demonstrate concurrent temperature differences. The study aim was examining facial warmth sensitivity differences by facial region under differing environmental conditions. Methods: Twelve men had heat flux measurements of six facial regions during 30 min each of rest in thermoneutral conditions (25 °C, 30% relative humidity (RH)), rest in warm conditions (40 °C, 30% RH), and cycling at 400 W of metabolic heat production (40 °C, 30% RH). Results: The forehead demonstrated highest temperatures at termination of all study conditions; lowest temperatures were noted for the nose under thermoneutral conditions and chin during warmth and exercise conditions. Five of six facial regions demonstrated significant differences in warmth sensitivity, decreasing to two of six regions during warm conditions and one of six regions during exercise, with the upper lip most sensitive in all conditions. Body thermal comfort (TC) perceptions, regressed individually on mean facial temperature (Tface) vs. core temperature (Tco), indicated that Tface was significantly more related than Tco to perceived TC (p =.001). Perceived TC, regressed individually on perceived overall body thermal sensation (TS) vs. facial TS, demonstrated that Tface was significantly more related to perceived TC (p =.004). Conclusion: There were regional differences in facial warmth sensitivity together with different facial temperatures moving toward equilibration when the body is subjected to heat-producing activities. Perceptions of TC were more strongly related to Tface than to Tco or overall body TS.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 654-659 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | International Journal of Hperthermia |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:©, This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.