Why am I so cold all the time? A GP explains why many women get so cold easily

It might not be freezing right now but for many of us, it’s definitely cold enough to have a hot water bottle on the go at all times. In fact, if you’re like us, you’ll have had a water bottle every day for at least the past month and found yourself having the ‘is too early to turn on the heating?’ debate every day since October 1. We’re the people who can’t feel our fingers in spring and still need a jacket in August. And yet, there are those who manage to walk down the street in shorts in December, and start sweating the second they put a puffer coat on.

So, why do some people seem to feel the cold more than others – and what does it mean for our health? 

Finding out what ‘normal’ means when it comes to our temperature is pretty tricky, explains Dr Clare Eglin from the Extreme Environments Laboratory in the Health and Exercise Science department at the University of Portsmouth. While our core temperature ideally should remain stable all year long, she says that our perception of temperature changes. “Our perception of whether we find somewhere warm or cool is very individual and usually down to our skin temperature,” Dr Eglin says. “This is what gives our body feedback, and lots of things can affect that from the clothes that we are wearing to the activities we are doing – and also the wind and dampness of the environment.” 

And there are also genetic and personal factors that can mean that two people, wearing the same thing in the same environment feel different temperatures.  

Everyone’s body has a slightly different reaction to cold and some people feel cold more often than others, which is known as cold intolerance.

There are many factors that contribute to this, including: 

• Overall body size can impact how cold you feel, as smaller people have fewer cells in their body that produce heat 
• People with higher levels of body fat and/or muscle mass have more insulation and a higher resting metabolic rate so burn energy faster
• Being active not only warms the body immediately but can have a long-term effect on temperature regulation 
• Older people also tend to have a slower resting metabolic rate, so may feel the cold more

These factors do mean that gender is a big divider, as women are generally smaller than men and carry less muscle mass. We’ve all fought over the thermostat in the office (or central heating while at home) but a it’s believed that there’s a universally comfortable temperature. “The temperature deemed comfortable for most people is meant to be about 21°C but actually, that’s ideal for a man in a suit. Women generally do better with a higher temperature,” says Dr Eglin. 

Credit: Getty

Interestingly, we feel this disparity internally too. “Oestrogen and progesterone, which change throughout the menstrual cycle, affect how quickly our blood vessels constrict to the cold. So depending what part of the menstrual cycle you’re in, you might find your hands and feet get colder, affecting your overall temperature perception,” says Dr Eglin. 

Your temperature perception can also change throughout the day. “For instance, at 6am your core temperature is at its lowest, and from midday to mid-afternoon, it’s at its highest,” she adds. 

Don’t panic if you have hands like ice cubes on a summer’s day. “It is a very typical thing, particularly for women,” says Dr Eglin. Our hands have a large surface area but a small volume and are filled with lots of blood vessels very close to the surface of the skin. “They’re very good for losing heat and so therefore, when you’re slightly cool, the blood flow shuts down,” she says. 

While peripheral temperature is generally nothing to worry about, Dr Eglin says, it can be a sign of Raynaud’s syndrome. That’s an extreme response to cold or stress where arteries narrow to the point that fingers and toes turn white or blue and feel cold and numb. Circulation eventually returns to normal when warm again. 

Our menstrual cycle dictates how cold our extremities get

Being cold is generally down to our body type, and as long as we take precautions it’s not a bad thing. But if constant coldness is mixed with other symptoms, it could be a sign of something more serious. For example, coldness paired with tiredness or dizziness could be a symptom of an iron or B12 deficiency, or even anaemia. Constantly being cold coupled with hair loss, a change in your digestive system and weight gain could also be a sign of a low thyroid – when the gland stops producing enough thyroxine (a hormone which regulates your metabolism).

Ultimately, your body is pretty good at regulating itself, so trust what it’s telling you. “Our behaviour is the most important thing when it comes to keeping warm. I think quite often we underestimate the weather in the UK. You always hear people say ‘It’s not that bad, it’s not like we’re in the Arctic!’, but with the windchill and dampness it can be very cold. We don’t pay enough attention to that,” says Dr Eglin. So, bundle up when you’re feeling the chill.