Ask LH: Why Is My Body Temperature So High?

Hi Lifehacker, I have always been a hot, sweaty sleeper and my temperature is warmer than a lot of other people. I’m 175cm and 73kg, which I don’t think is overweight enough to warrant the cause. What can I do to reduce my body temperature? Thanks, Hot Stuff

Sweaty woman picture from Shutterstock

Dear HS,

Perception isn’t always reality. You might think your body temperature is hotter than others, but do you actually have any concrete evidence to back it up? Presumably you don’t walk around randomly administering rectal temperature readings on strangers. (At least, we hope you don’t.)

For example, it’s widely believed that males have higher body temperatures than females, which is supposed to explain why women are more likely to complain about the cold. However, scientific studies suggests otherwise: with the exception of some pregnant women, our body temperatures are extremely close.

There’s also a difference between core temperature and skin temperature. A healthy human’s core temperature typically hovers around 37 degrees Celsius, whereas our skin temperature is affected by the weather, clothing and sleeping patterns. It can range from a typical 33 degrees down to 25 degrees.

Our perception of warmth (or lack thereof) is generally linked to skin temperature. Therefore, it may be that your skin is more sensitive to heat than the average person. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot you can do internally to fix the problem. Instead of trying to reduce your body temperature through lifestyle changes, your best bet is to make some simple adjustments to your environment.

If you don’t own an air conditioner, here are five DIY alternatives that will help to keep her cool at night. Another possible solution is to moisten your body’s cooling points with cold water before bed.

Alternatively, you can always cool yourself off with some delicious homemade ice cream. This two-ingredient recipe takes little effort and doesn’t even require a machine to make. You can find plenty of other cooling tips via our Summerhacker tag.

Cheers
Lifehacker

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