2018 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 77-83
The purpose of this study was to assess cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system, psychophysiology effects from two different footbath water temperatures of carbon dioxide (CO 2)-enriched water and of fresh water. The feet and legs of tenhealthysubjects were immersed in four different footbath conditions. The four conditions included fresh water and 1000 ppm CO 2-enriched water applied separately at 36℃and 41℃each for 15 minutes. The effect on the autonomic nervous activity, blood pressure, pulse rate,comfort level, and thermal sensation before, during, and after the immersion bath. The pulse rate was significantly lower after the immersion bath period than during immersion for the CO 2-enriched water footbath at 41℃(p<0.05). The autonomic nervous activity change rate was significantly higher during the immersion bath period than before immersion for the fresh water footbath at 36℃(p<0.05). Thermal sensation was significantly higher during the immersion bath period than after immersion for all the footbath conditions (p<0.05) and significantly higher during the immersion bath period than before immersion in the fresh water footbath at 36℃(p<0.05). This result implies that no significant difference was found between CO 2-enriched water footbath at 36℃and 41℃.
