[Wishin]

Just wondering, will being cold often affect NBE results? I've seen the alternating hot/cold shower trick, but I'm talking about being immersed in cold water for an hour a day.

I'm a distance runner and injured so I've been aqua jogging this past month. I definitely notice any swelling I had before my aqua jog is gone instantly afterwards. I also notice they seem much smaller after a long session. I think it's due to the cold. Obviously it is affecting my swelling, but do you think it affects overall growth?

[AbiDrew85]

Short answer: yes.

Slightly longer explanation and what you can do about it:

Low body temperature negatively impacts breast development. It actually causes a lot of problems in your body and the impact on breast development is the least of the worries. If at all possible you should try increasing the water temperature to something much closer to your typical core body temperature. For most people that's around 99 degrees F.

But 80 or so should be reasonable for your pool water. If it's already around 80 and it's NOT ok, then crank it to 90. Only take it as hot as you NEED to. Since you are exercising your body will be producing it's own heat as well... As long as the net core body temperature stays between 97-100 degrees F, that's where you want to be. And the more stable and closer to your typical core temperature, the better...

As a female your typical core temperature actually fluctuates quite a bit though, so you'll want to measure before starting the exercise to establish just what your target should be. And then try to keep it stable around that!

EDIT: BTW... If you want to learn more a good place to start is (gasp!) the wikipedia page about human body temperature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body_temperature

[Wishin]

Thank you so much! This is sort of what I was afraid of. It's an outdoor shared pool so no way I can change the temps. I've been trying to run at noon when the pool is in full sun so I'm warmer and the water is warmer but sometimes due to my work schedule that is not possible. Luckily I *should* only have one more week in the water (fingers crossed!). But, I'm definitely going to see what I can do to increase my body temps while in the water. Maybe drinking some warm tea or something...

[AbiDrew85]

I dunno if that'll work... Water is a super-regulator for heat. Seriously. VERY few things conduct heat away from or towards something as well as water. The hotter you get, unless the water itself warms up several degrees, all you'll actually do is just dissipate it into the surrounding water even quicker!

Water is extremely efficient at dissipating heat throughout it. So your "warm spot" quickly gets a LOT colder while the surrounding water only rises by a degree or two at best. You'd literally have to go feverish hot before you make a significant difference to the water.

And thanks to the human body being like 80% or more water, the water actually regulates your temperature even BETTER than it would for, say, a pure metal ore. And they use water to very rapidly cool superheated ores in foundries! And they use water to cool MASSIVELY superheated uranium ore in power plants!

[Wishin]

Oh, I wasn't thinking in an effort to warm up the water, I was thinking to keep myself warmer and possibly not drop my temperature as much. I have a top half of a wetsuit I tried but it constricted my range of motion too much. I know there's no way I will be heating up the water around me, just trying to mitigate the effects of the cold water on me

[AbiDrew85]

Oh, I wasn't thinking in an effort to warm up the water, I was thinking to keep myself warmer and possibly not drop my temperature as much. I have a top half of a wetsuit I tried but it constricted my range of motion too much. I know there's no way I will be heating up the water around me, just trying to mitigate the effects of the cold water on me

Yeah... And I'm saying that it doesn't work that way. The wet suit idea would work if you could find something that wouldn't be too restrictive.

What I'm saying is that the water will draw out your body heat whatever your body heat is as long as there's a significant differential. And, if anything, the more significant the differential, the FASTER it'll steal your heat. Unless you're actually hot enough to change the temperature of the water significantly enough to reduce the differential and arrive at a reasonable equilibrium in the process.

I'm honestly surprised they keep the pool that cold if it's a public pool... even outdoor, they're usually heated to around 76 minimum. Up to 82 is typical.

[Wishin]

I get it now! I thought you were saying I wouldn't heat up the water. Now I see the part about it cooling me faster. It actually isn't *that* cold. Probably in the mid 80s. I am just super sensitive to cold and cold water especially. I always have been.

I no longer need that half wetsuit, I'm debating cutting off the arms as the constriction is in the shoulders. I may go do some surgery on it before my long "run" this afternoon.

[AbiDrew85]

I get it now! I thought you were saying I wouldn't heat up the water. Now I see the part about it cooling me faster. It actually isn't *that* cold. Probably in the mid 80s. I am just super sensitive to cold and cold water especially. I always have been.

I no longer need that half wetsuit, I'm debating cutting off the arms as the constriction is in the shoulders. I may go do some surgery on it before my long "run" this afternoon.

Ohhh! I get you now! On both those points! lol.

I totally have the shoulder constriction problem too on tops that otherwise fit me fine. It sucks.

And I am also hypersensitive to cold and especially cold water and always have been for cold water, though cold in general has been a rather newer development and I'm not sure if that's due to hormonal changes or weight loss or both.

[Wishin]

Wow, I am hypersensitive and a bit embarrassed to admit this ...The pool felt "colder" than usual so I asked the guards about the temperature. They said this time of year it tends to sit in the high 80s/low 90s. Then they showed me where they keep the thermometer in the filter. It was 89 degrees! The wetsuit REALLY helped. I hopefully only have one week left in the pool but at least it will help until I'm on the roads/trails again.

The shoulder is something I've faced since I was 12 or so. I was a swimmer. HUGE shoulders, big arms, no chest, tiny waist. Shirts just do not fit me. Tank tops or halters are my best bet, but in the winter there's just no hope for me to wear cute tops if I want them to fit over my shoulders and arms.

Your new issue could definitely be due to weight loss (congrats on by the way ). I'm unsure about hormonal issues but they could be, I'm definitely more or less sensitive to cold and heat throughout my cycle.

[AbiDrew85]

Wow, I am hypersensitive and a bit embarrassed to admit this ...The pool felt "colder" than usual so I asked the guards about the temperature. They said this time of year it tends to sit in the high 80s/low 90s. Then they showed me where they keep the thermometer in the filter. It was 89 degrees! The wetsuit REALLY helped. I hopefully only have one week left in the pool but at least it will help until I'm on the roads/trails again.

Haha! OMG! I'm SOOOOO like that tooo!!!!

The shoulder is something I've faced since I was 12 or so. I was a swimmer. HUGE shoulders, big arms, no chest, tiny waist. Shirts just do not fit me. Tank tops or halters are my best bet, but in the winter there's just no hope for me to wear cute tops if I want them to fit over my shoulders and arms.

Similar, but different reasons. I was born male... though I wouldn't really say "tiny" for my waist. 28" waist and 36.5" hips make my hips tinier if anything. My arms are actually quite slim and very long. But my shoulders... 41" circumference at the joint between shoulders and arms.

I really have no real upper body musculature at all though, I was a cyclist... So it's powerful ass legs on me.

Right now I'm actually pushing towards dangerous skinny, but it's on purpose, I want to get that waist as narrow as I possibly can before I start carefully putting weight back on in a female distribution.

Your new issue could definitely be due to weight loss (congrats on by the way ). I'm unsure about hormonal issues but they could be, I'm definitely more or less sensitive to cold and heat throughout my cycle.

Yeah. It's probably a combination more than anything. I AM pushing towards dangerous skinny... But I've also completely changed my entire hormonal balance from super testosterone heavy to almost no testosterone and balanced high cycle of estrogen and progesterone. I love the new hormone balance in basically every way... Except the loss of my imperviousness to the cold. Used to be I could walk around in just a light long sleeved shirt and no coat in the middle of winter. In Ohio. And trust me, in Ohio that's saying something. Not so much these days... with climate change our winters are getting stupidly mild... So it's just as telling that now I start bundling heavy as early as the end of summer!