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Name: Veronika
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
The other day I jammed my ring finger in a door. And the few days after it was at a different temperature then the rest of my fingers. I was wondering why. It was noticibly, to me, warmer.


Replies:
Hi Veronica

What you felt was the inflammation of the finger. You must have damaged the tissue in the finger and while your finger was fixing the damage it became inflamed which helps it deal with the injury.

The reason inflamation makes the finger feel hot is that the blood vessels that supply blood to the damaged area become larger to increase the blood flow to the tissue (and increase the supply of all the helpful, tissue repairing substances and cells). The increased blood flow comes from deep in the body where the blood is actually slightly hotter than it is in the periphery of your body (ie near the skin) so when more of this blood is supplied to the area it actually does become warmer.

Thanks for your question. Hope the information was helpful.

Cameron Millsom


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