Factors influencing acute tympanic temperature changes during cold water exposure
Karafová A, Karafa M, Kopciński B, Kortas J, Verme F, Capodaglio P
International journal of circumpolar health · 0 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
Based on full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2026-05-27 · Int J Circumpolar Health · vol. 85 · issue 1 · p. 2680803
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Cited
- 0 citations · more than 46% of similar papers · 0.0× the field average
- References
- 20 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY-NC
- Research areas
- Ear Surgery and Otitis Media · Thermal Regulation in Medicine · Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Keywords
- Ice water, Immersion (mathematics), Skin temperature, Distressing, Human body temperature, Air temperature, Cold weather
- MeSH
- tympanic membrane, humans, body mass index, body temperature, immersion, seasons, ice, swimming, adult, arctic regions, female, male, cold temperature, young adult
6 authors
From PL, IT
- Anna KarafováGdansk University of Physical Education and Sport
- Marian Karafa · correspondingGdansk University of Physical Education and Sport
- Bartłomiej Kopciński
- Jakub KortasGdansk University of Physical Education and Sport
- Federica VermeIRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano; Ospedale San Giuseppe
- Paolo CapodaglioUniversity of Milan; IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano
Abstract
Exposure to ice water, despite its growing popularity and documented health benefits, is limited by the risk of distressing physiological reactions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between individual, environmental factors and acute tympanic temperature changes during cold exposure. A total of 90 individuals either practicing cold water immersion (CWI) or winter swimming (WS) were enrolled in the study. They were divided into 4 subgroups according to the distance swum (200 m or 450 m) and immersion time (5 or 9 min). The tympanic temperature of all participants was measured, and BMI was calculated. This study found significant pre-post exposure changes in temperature [°C] (p>0.05) in all the subgroups, except for the group immersed for 5 min. In winter swimmers, a significant negative correlation between BMI and tympanic membrane temperature was found p = 0.006) for both females and males. The greatest change in tympanic temperature occurred in participants with 3 years of experience in practicing those activities. A five-minute immersion in water below 1°C did not allow for the observation of a significant body response to ice water. The results indicate that a higher BMI was associated with a smaller decrease in tympanic membrane temperature in the winter swimming subgroup.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC).
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