Skin Science
Your Skin Is Your Largest Organ
Before searching for a good acne treatment, it proabably is a good idea to make sense of how exactly your skin works. As one of your body’s vitally important organs, your skin plays a significant part in keeping you alive and healthy. In so many unique ways, it is responsible for your “internal surroundings” it does this by saving body fluids, controlling body temperature, supplying sensory information, as well as safeguarding against bacteria, germs and other risks coming in from the outside.
Your skin can be quite complicated too. It is made up of lots of different components within one square inch, which includes:
Skin layers
The skin can be divided into three layers:
- Epidermis,
- Dermis
- Subcutaneous tissue
1. Epidermis
The epidermis shapes the external covering of your entire body and can be split into five sublayers:
- Stratum corneum
- Lucid cell
- Granular cell
- Spinous cell
- Basal cell
Each sub-layer signifies effective levels in the life cycle of epidermal cells. Because they move outwards from their first layer towards the surface, the cells gradually flatten and consequently develop into the surface area cells.
The epidermis is a thin protective layer of cells which has no blood vessels. It is intended to offer protection; the epidermal layer is responsible for the appearance, colour, flexibility and texture of your skin.
The skin we can see is called the stratum corneum. It serves as a protective barrier against the environment as well as moisture loss. If the structure becomes disturbed for any kind of reason (i.e. lipid removal brought on by using detergents or harsh cleansers), excessive moisture loss and skin dehydration results. This particular layer is the body’s primary barrier to water loss as well as to infection and skin trauma such as severe acne. Many over the counter acne treatment products today forget about this important bit of science and are so harsh and even dangerous to our sensitive skin.
2. Dermis
The dermis is a coating of tissue in between the epidermis and subcutaneous tissues. It supplies your skin toughness and also provides it support by means of elastin fibers and collagen.
Collagen is actually one of the most ample proteins within the body and encompasses around 70% of the dried weight of the dermis. It acts as the most important structural component of the skin, and also performs an essential function in healing wounds and scars. The generation of collagen decreases in puberty, phases out in your 20s and 30′s, and as you grow older it will become very little. This is the reason for the thin, frail, old and wrinkly appearance of aging skin. Furthermore, long-term direct exposure to the sun’s rays as well as extreme weather conditions weakens the strength and firmness of collagen.
Without having the dermis, the skin would most likely be a delicate, fragile layer of cells with very little power to be able to offer any kind of protection. At the same time, the vascular system (blood supply) within the dermis is designed to provide the epidermis with the much needed nutritional vitamins our skin requires particularly when you suffer from acne.
3. Subcutaneous tissue
The subcutaneous tissue is your skins deepest layer and is made up of loosened fatty tissue and elastic fibres. The thickness of subcutaneous tissue differs depending on where it is on your own body. It may be thickest around the stomach area, however non-existent around the eyes. No matter where it is, it is essential for your body to be able to take in shock, store calories and protect you against cold weather conditions.
