tweaks the limbs

Architectradure points to a heat regulation product called Core Control that really fascinates me. I have had problems with heat regulation my entire life. It was a real burden in the Army, where I would frequently drop out of summertime training and get propped up by a tree with an IV or two. I find it a burden today when I have yard work to do, but can only complete the bare minimum because of the heat and the need for me to protect myself from fatigue lasting a day or two.

To top it all off, my heat sensitivity can take any of three forms that materialize randomly when I get too hot:

• Intense muscle cramps in the neck and shoulders. This can become very painful, destroy my concentration and ability to communicate with others. Usually takes me out of action for a whole day and requires higher does of pain relievers (ibuprofen) than I should take.
• Super-irritability, paranoia, overreaction to negative stimulus.
• Fatigue, foggy brain, memory loss.

Now, assuming this device really does cool your body core, why can’t I just stick my hand in a bag of ice to cool off? An article about the device from Stanford Magazine describes how the body can dump excess heat through the palms, but the skin of the palms can shut off this response to heat if it feels cold. It sounds like there is a happy zone where you can draw more heat out of the body through the hands, but not trigger a shutdown of the body’s mechanism that makes it possible.

The user guide talks about the device being able to detect the difference between the cone temperature and your hand temperature. Maybe this has to keep within some range for the core cooling effect to work. The device could regulate the pump of water into the cooling cone based on the temperature difference.

Still, it sounds as though I might try an experiment at home to cool my hands and feet while taking a break from yard work, and see if that improves my well-being. I also wrote to the company to see how much the thing costs.