Skin is the largest organ in the human body, and as such it plays a key role in promoting bodily health throughout the course of life. The term "thick-skinned" could really apply to any human because it can sustain quite a bit of punishment, and repair itself to full health remarkably fast. Serving as the protective outer shell, the skin is also lined with nerve endings that allow us to feel pain and touch. Without these we would damage our skin way more often than we do now.
The body's initial defense mechanism is the skin; it keeps out dirt, bacteria, and other foreign matter. It also serves as the body's thermostat; keeping the body at the right temperature for life to sustain. There are countless functions of the skin, but we can break down everything it does into five key tasks overall. The five tasks performed by human skin are: production, protection, sensation, regulation, and absorption.
Production
In direct response to the ultraviolet rays of the Sun, the skin creates Vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to overall skin health and repair, breaking down Calcium and Phosphorus to supply repair efforts. Vitamin D also aids in the growth of new bone in the body, which makes it especially important for women in particular. Just how much Vitamin D the skin creates is based on a number of factors, such as age, race, skin color and darkness, gender, and health.
Protection
Except for our bodily orifices, the skin fully covers our entire body, stretching and tightening when it needs to. To better protect your body, the skin has multiple layers, which all work collaboratively to maximize the body's defense against foreign materials and germs.
Sensation
The nerve endings in our skin help us gauge the safety of things in our environment. We wouldn't know that a hot stove is hot unless someone tells us or we touch it and find out for ourselves, right? Once we get burned, we know not to do it again. Even just one inch of our skin contains millions of cells and nerve endings, these are needed for the incredibly complex functions it performs.
Regulation
The skin does serve as a perfect thermostatic device for the body. When we are hot, our skin produces sweat through the skin pores, which then pools and evaporates on the surface to provide a cooling effect. When we get too cold, our skin contracts, and begins to shut down blood carrying vessels near areas that are not vital to survival, such as our feet and hands. This reduces the amount of heat lost.
Absorption
Remember the old saying "You are what you eat?" Well, it is pretty accurate. Our skin, being an organ, absorbs whatever we put into our body. This can either be good or bad, depending on your habits. If you eat a lot of junk food, drink too much alcohol, or do drugs, then you are not going to develop healthy skin cells. You can usually tell when someone does these things just by looking at their skin complexion and overall state.
In contrast, a healthy diet produces healthy skin, healthy people have a certain glow to them, this is why. Understanding your skin and how it functions is the first step to using at-home acne treatments properly.
Are you interested in learning how to get rid of acne? Learn how a pretty young girl suffered from breakouts all her teenage years until she found the perfect method to get rid of her acne.
The body's initial defense mechanism is the skin; it keeps out dirt, bacteria, and other foreign matter. It also serves as the body's thermostat; keeping the body at the right temperature for life to sustain. There are countless functions of the skin, but we can break down everything it does into five key tasks overall. The five tasks performed by human skin are: production, protection, sensation, regulation, and absorption.
Production
In direct response to the ultraviolet rays of the Sun, the skin creates Vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to overall skin health and repair, breaking down Calcium and Phosphorus to supply repair efforts. Vitamin D also aids in the growth of new bone in the body, which makes it especially important for women in particular. Just how much Vitamin D the skin creates is based on a number of factors, such as age, race, skin color and darkness, gender, and health.
Protection
Except for our bodily orifices, the skin fully covers our entire body, stretching and tightening when it needs to. To better protect your body, the skin has multiple layers, which all work collaboratively to maximize the body's defense against foreign materials and germs.
Sensation
The nerve endings in our skin help us gauge the safety of things in our environment. We wouldn't know that a hot stove is hot unless someone tells us or we touch it and find out for ourselves, right? Once we get burned, we know not to do it again. Even just one inch of our skin contains millions of cells and nerve endings, these are needed for the incredibly complex functions it performs.
Regulation
The skin does serve as a perfect thermostatic device for the body. When we are hot, our skin produces sweat through the skin pores, which then pools and evaporates on the surface to provide a cooling effect. When we get too cold, our skin contracts, and begins to shut down blood carrying vessels near areas that are not vital to survival, such as our feet and hands. This reduces the amount of heat lost.
Absorption
Remember the old saying "You are what you eat?" Well, it is pretty accurate. Our skin, being an organ, absorbs whatever we put into our body. This can either be good or bad, depending on your habits. If you eat a lot of junk food, drink too much alcohol, or do drugs, then you are not going to develop healthy skin cells. You can usually tell when someone does these things just by looking at their skin complexion and overall state.
In contrast, a healthy diet produces healthy skin, healthy people have a certain glow to them, this is why. Understanding your skin and how it functions is the first step to using at-home acne treatments properly.
Are you interested in learning how to get rid of acne? Learn how a pretty young girl suffered from breakouts all her teenage years until she found the perfect method to get rid of her acne.
No comments:
Post a Comment