Temperature Regulation:
http://www.apparelyzed.com/temperature.html
Temperature
Regulation
A normal, healthy human is able to maintain a constant
body temperature of approximately 98.6F despite the temperature
of the environment. In a hot environment, the body sends a signal
to the brain via the spinal cord to say the body is overheating,
the brain then sends a signal back down the spinal cord and tells
the body to cool itself by perspiration which evaporates and
cools
the skin. In cold weather, the body senses the lower temperature
and our brain tells us to put more clothes on to warm ourselves
up.
Most people with complete spinal cord injuries do
not sweat below the level of the injury and many quadriplegics
cannot
even sweat above the injury (even though they may sweat due to
autonomic
dysreflexia). With loss of the ability to sweat or vasoconstrict
within affected dermatomes the patient
becomes poikilothermic and needs careful control of their
environmental
conditions. Therefore, if a high paraplegic or quadriplegic is in
an outside temperature over 90 F, especially when the humidity is
high, the body temperature will begin to rise. Likewise in a cold
environment, the body may not be able to get the messages through
to the brain that the body is cooling down, and if left
untreated,
the person will soon become hypothermic.
This also applies to those with "incomplete" spinal cord injuries,
though it may be to a lesser degree, but not necessarily so.The feeling that
our legs are on fire or ice cold (when they are not) is due to neuropathic
pain/sensations, not temperature regulation. The burning feeling may be brought
on by overheating, but as noted by many of us here, it is a constant whether we
get hot or not...
Marieke RN, TM @T1 since March 2004
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