Why are our joints (ankles, elbows, knees, knuckles, shoulders) much colder than the rest of the body?
In: Biology
This is a cool observation!
From a heat transfer perspective, all of the body parts you’ve listed have little muscle between the joint and the air.
Your muscles flow with warm blood, so the body parts with less muscle between itself and the cold will become cold faster.
(Also most of our joints are small compared to the rest of our body, and just like how it’s easier to heat a small pan vs a big pan, it’s easier to cool a small joint than a big bone.)
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