Changes in Skin Temperature During Muscular Work: A Pilot Study

Abstract

What mechanism has greater influence on skin temperature during, and after, the muscular work: peripheral vasoconstriction or muscle heat dissipation? And yet, at what time each one preponderates? In this sense, the present study aimed to analyze, in time domain, the skin temperature variations during muscular exercise. This study can be characterized as a short-term longitudinal study. The study was conducted with two male able-bodied volunteers, with 22 and 23 yrs, both physically active. The exercise proposed was the unilateral biceps curl, with dominant arm. The data from the contralateral arm was used as control. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain was used to monitor the muscular pain perception during 48 hours after the exercise. The results show the temperature decreases during the first minute (between the start and the end of the first set of exercise). The end of 3rd set can be observed an average increase in the temperature of study arm of approximately 8.4% compared to the initial temperature and an average difference of approximately 6.6% compared to the control arm. In conclusion, the temperature of the skin over the main muscle of high-intensity exercise (performing until fatigue) decreases at the initial stage and then increases continuously until muscle fatigue. The exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD) can be predicted by assessment of muscle skin temperature 24 hours after exercise.