Hand temperature responses to local cooling after a 10‐day confinement to normobaric hypoxia with and without exercise

The study examined the effects of a 10‐day normobaric hypoxic confinement (FiO2: 0.14), with [hypoxic exercise training (HT); n = 8)] or without [hypoxic ambulatory (HA; n = 6)] exercise, on the hand temperature responses during and after local cold stress. Before and after the confinement, subjects immersed their right hand for 30 min in 8 °C water [cold water immersion (CWI)], followed by a 15‐min spontaneous rewarming (RW), while breathing either room air (AIR), or a hypoxic gas mixture (HYPO). The hand temperature responses were monitored with thermocouples and infrared thermography. The confinement did not influence the hand temperature responses of the HA group during the AIR and HYPO CWI and the HYPO RW phases; but it impaired the AIR RW response (−1.3 °C; P = 0.05). After the confinement, the hand temperature responses were unaltered in the HT group throughout the AIR trial. However, the average hand temperature was increased during the HYPO CWI (+0.5 °C; P ≤ 0.05) and RW (+2.4 °C; P ≤ 0.001) phases. Accordingly, present findings suggest that prolonged exposure to normobaric hypoxia per se does not alter the hand temperature responses to local cooling; yet, it impairs the normoxic RW response. Conversely, the combined stimuli of continuous hypoxia and exercise enhance the finger cold‐induced vasodilatation and hand RW responses, specifically, under hypoxic conditions.