How Does Skin React to Temperature Changes?

[Cyclotron]

How does our skin respond to changes in temperature?

 

[EmilK]

This question can be approached in many different ways, both from a physiologic and physical standpoint.

What happens when molecules get an increase in energy for one or another reason? How does the body respond to an increased temperature to keep the body cool? I'm sure you have undergone this process, which happens to occur in a hot, enclosed area or after some physical activity. What about when it gets cold? Have you ever stepped out of a warm shower and started to shake? How do cells respond to heat and cold? how is the metabolic reactions in the skin related to the surrounding temperature?

 

[jim mcnamara]

Largely by changing peripheral blood flow - restricting it during cold, increasing it during warmth.

google for Raynaud's syndrome, for example.