Abstract
As a basic research to assist people who are oversensitive to cold, we investigated the relationship between peripheral and cardiac autonomic nervous response indices when hot compress was applied to healthy women. A hot compress was applied to the lower back region for 120 min, and the skin surface temperature and RR interval were then measured. The peripheral autonomic nervous response index indicated the skin surface temperature gradient, whereas the cardiac autonomic nervous response index indicated the RR interval. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve indices were determined using Lorenz plot analysis. Results showed that the cardiac parasympathetic nerve index was lower when hot compress was used for 120 min compared with that when hot compress was not used. The skin surface temperature gradients showed no significant difference after 120 min and were reduced more with the application of the hot compress than without it. The parasympathetic nerve index was higher after 120 min compared with that at the starting point both with and without hot compress, although no significant difference was observed between the conditions. The relationship between peripheral and cardiac sympathetic nerve indices revealed no correlation between both the conditions. Based on these results, we conclude that when a hot compress is applied, the relationship between peripheral and cardiac autonomic nervous response indices may cause regional differentiation of sympathetic efferents.
