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.

Electrolipolysis associated with aerobic activity does not reduce subcutaneous adipose tissue of the abdominal region of young women: A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effects of electrolysis, through a medium frequency current, associated to aerobic physical activity in the body composition of young women. METHODS: The study was composed of 34 sedentary women (24.35 ± 4.43 years, 71.30 ± 7.08 kg, 1.61 ± 0.06 m, 27.31 ± 1.67 kg/m2) which were evaluated for their anthropometric measures and body composition. The volunteers were randomly assigned to two group: Electrolyphysis plus Aerobic Exercise (gEEA): 17 volunteers were submitted to the application, for 60 min , of the Aussie current, followed by aerobic physical activity (77% of HRmax) on the trampoline for 40 min, through video-lessons of Jump; and Aerobic Exercise group (gEA): 17 volunteers performed only physical activity following the same parameters mentioned above. Each group performed its protocols twice weekly, for 5 weeks, totaling 10 sessions. For the data analysis, measures repeated ANOVA was performed to compare the means of the variables analyzed before and after the treatment protocols using the SPSS - 21.0 software, adopting a p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Although gEEA decreased suprailiac skinfold (p = 0.04), abdominal skinfold (p = 0.03) and circumference at umbilical scar (p = 0.02) in an intragroup analysis, these means differences in anthropometric measures were not important between-groups (p > 0.05). Furthermore, there were no effect of treatment on body composition (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: To this studied condition, our results suggested that application of medium frequency electrolysis did not enhance the losses on anthropometric measures and body composition.

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.