title: Effects of Water Temperature during Foot Bath in Young Females.
abstract: We examined the effects of environmental and water temperatures of foot baths on pulse rate, blood pressure, mean skin temperature, salivary amylase (SA) activity, relaxation level and thermal sensation during winter. Five females participated in the study. The subjects rested in a chair for 20 min and the above-noted physiological reactions during the last 5 min of the resting period were recorded as baseline (BASE) values. Next, the subjects received a 15-min foot bath in water at 40 °C (WT40) or 45 °C (WT45), with a 15-min recovery period. Although SA is thought to be an indicator of stress via the sympathetic nervous system, we did not find a correlation between SA activity and relaxation state. We considered the possible effect of seasonal variation on the physiological reaction to foot bathing.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Science in Sports and Exercise, Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Tottori 680-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Tatsuya Saito
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Tatsuya Saito
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Onodera
keywords: foot; immersion; salivary alpha amylase; seasonal variation; thermosensing