6 ms·
> Because vasoconstriction only occurs when the core body temperature falls, it won't happen if you're dressed warmly enough. While insulating your neck and fee
by gwd 6y ago
> Because vasoconstriction only occurs when the core body temperature falls, it won't happen if you're dressed warmly enough. While insulating your neck and feet will greatly improve your thermal comfort, there is no need to wear gloves or caps indoors. In fact, it doesn't matter very much which parts of your body you choose to insulate - the important thing is to limit total heat loss so that the body core temperature remains stable
This may be true for many people, but I haven't found it true for me.
My wife and I reverse the stereotype of married couples and thermostats: she was raised in an area of the world that never got below 10C in Winter, and thus no buildings ever had heat. In the Winter you just put on more clothing. I was raised near the Canadian border; so our houses were always reasonably warm. She'd prefer the thermostat at 15C. We had sort of negotiated to keep it at 19C.
When I started working from home due to the lockdown, however, I had no choice but to turn up the temperature in the room I was working in: At 19C, sitting still all day, even wearing long underwear, woolen socks, and a very warm top, my feet got cold enough to get numb, in spite of my torso being almost hot enough to sweat.
Maybe if I found the right clothing, my legs would keep my feet warm again. But the "torso warm therefore extremities warm" is definitely not true for me.
EDIT: Just to be clear, my goal was to contradict the specific claim that I quoted, not to contradict the general idea of wearing more clothes. I've tried a couple of different solutions with the equipment at hand (like hot water bottles and thick socks) and not found them effective. The heat is already controlled on a per-room basis, so an additional electric heater would probably be a lot more wasteful than just turning up the temperature by one degree. I've been looking at woolen "boot slippers" online and looser-fitting garments. I'm sure I'll find a solution -- but all of these additional measures prove that "just keep your torso warm" is not always enough.
- turtlebits 6y agoIt's because you're sitting all day. Get a small foot heater.
- dugmartin 6y agoOr a blanket over the legs (I'm at home at my desk in New England and I have a blanket over them right now).
- masklinn 6y agoYes, especially an infrared heater, that allows much more efficient "spot heating" than a more traditional convection heater.
- Jtsummers 6y agoI try to make it a point to get up at least once an hour for light exercise (pushups, bodyweight rows, squats, dips, maybe some jumping jacks) just to keep the blood flowing. Seems to be effective for me (my feet have a tendency to get very cold when sitting for too long). Plus it's better for my health (definitely improved muscle tone, even though I still cheat on the dips). Takes less than 5 minutes every hour. Pair it with walking to the kitchen to top off the glass of water and staying hydrated, and my focus (when I get back) is generally much better than if I just sat at the desk all day with frozen feet.
- jpindar 6y agoOr if your floor is colder than the rest of the room, put something insulating under your desk to keep your feet off it. I use an old couch cushion.
- bluedino 6y agoWool socks
- mannykannot 6y agoI have the same issue, and I sometimes wonder if cooling the face and/or ears is sufficient to cause vasoconstriction. Even with well-insulated clothing, I can feel cold to the core immediately on stepping outside on a cold day.
- marttt 6y agoMaybe this is too extreme, but starting barefoot running and/or taking cold showers will greatly increase one's cold tolerance.
- Jtsummers 6y agoI spent my time from age 32-37 exercising outdoors year round regardless of the temperature (in that area, down to 25F for January/February). My body quickly adapted to the colder weather as the seasons changed, and my only change in attire was to go from a short sleeve t-shirt to a long sleeve t-shirt. This year, I've spent almost no time outside since the summer (injury ended my running for a bit) and the winter temperatures are cutting through me (also it's colder here than my previous home, but not so cold as to fully explain the change in my comfort with it). When I wasn't exercising, I found that light (but long sleeve/long pants) clothing was sufficient nearly any time I was outdoors in the winter, even when traveling to much colder places (like the mountains for my friends' annual ski trip). Being indoors in consistent temperatures eats away (or does for me) our ability to adapt to temperature changes. I'm planning to start doing some walks to try and get myself adapted better to these temperatures, and next year plan to spend more time outdoors through the fall (in particular) so that my body properly adapts to the next winter.
- idolaspecus 6y agoI'm interested in the idea of running barefoot, could you share a reference or two?
- marttt 6y agoI'm actually more of a cold turkey experimenter. I started running barefoot more consistently only this September (discovered it accidentally on my own a few years ago). But I can state that it has done good to my ruined knees and I'm definitely a lot more resistant to catching colds. I have, however, somehow always loved really cold weather (I'm in Estonia, so winters around -20C are nothing too special here; this year, however, it has not gone below -7C yet. No snow yet, either.) But I do find this guy really interesting: http://barefootrunner.org/winter/wbfr_article_110610.htm http://barefootrunner.org/winter/wbfr_article_110610.htm Also, a random thread on frostbite: https://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/frostbite.1479/ https://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/frostbite.1479/ And another on hookworms: https://old.reddit.com/r/BarefootRunning/comments/14s6m8/learning_about_hookworms_in_college_is_one_of_the/ https://old.reddit.com/r/BarefootRunning/comments/14s6m8/lea...
- germinalphrase 6y agoI’m sure you’re already aware - but be mindful of what’s under your feet. A folded blanket can do wonders to insulate your feet from the floor.
- gwd 6y agoIn this case, the heating's coming up from the floor, so that would be counterproductive. :-D
- bluedino 6y agoA small blanket is great when working at home. Would get weird looks in the office, though.
- rvp-x 6y agomy feet can be cold even under a proper winter blanket. in my case, it's a symptom of iron deficiency anemia. it can also be bad blood circulation for other reasons.
- dharma1 6y agosheepskin slippers/booties. best thing I've bought in a while. https://www.sheepskin.co.uk/product/sheepland-luxury-sheepskin-slipper-boot-in-stone-grey/ https://www.sheepskin.co.uk/product/sheepland-luxury-sheepsk...