People don’t normally read the dictionary in their

free time, so when I start talking about the

Integumentary System, people don’t think much of

it.

And because of that, I have decided to put it into terms the average

American can understand:

Skin

Whitney Herne

What is skin?

• Skin is one big container, holding all your insides… inside. Not to mention your sense of touch.

• Skin also has appendages, such as hair, nails, sweat, and the sebaceous glands (these make the oil that can cause acne.)

• Without skin, you’d probably look like this guy:

•

• • Aren’t you glad you have skin?

What’s It Made Up Of?• Though it may not look so, skin can be compared to the roof over your head.

•Like a rooftop, skin is composed of dead cells layered upon one another, shielding from: infectious bacteria, toxic materials, dehydration, changes in temperature, and other things we can’t possibly see or feel.

For more Information about the components of skin and to watch an animation visit: http://health.howstuffworks.com/adam-200098.htm

So What’s It Really Made Up Of?

• The skin has three major sections: The Epidermis, the Dermis, and the Subcutaneous Layer.

The Epidermis• The Epidermis is the outer layer of skin that you can see, touch, and

feel.

• Contains pigment melanin that give skin color. Freckles are caused by an imbalance of melanin.

• The layers of skin mentioned before are also part of the Epidermis. The dead cells are replaced by cells from the living layer underneath it.

The Dermis• The Dermis can be defined as the inner layer of the skin. • It is thick whereas the epidermis is thin.• It’s made up of blood vessels, connective tissue, nerves, lymph vessels, glands, receptors, and hair shafts.• There are two layers of the Dermis:

– The upper Papillary- Deep ridges and grooves forming fingerprints. It also holds the receptors that tell you whether something is hot or cold, painful or not, etc.– The lower Reticular- dense connective tissue which holds hair follicles, (pretty much the root of the hair) nerves, and some key glands such as the sebaceous,

sudorferous, (sweat) and ceruminous glands (ear wax).

Sweat Gland SebaceousGland

Arrector Pili muscleConnective Tissue

The Subcutaneous Layer• Think of the Subcutaneous Layer like cushioning for the fragile organs

inside.• Also, the subcutaneous layer is a type of insulation, keeping your body

heat.

The Appendages

• As mentioned before, the Appendages are as follows:• Hair: Includes claws, feathers, horns, and scales. Starts at the hair

root and then grows outside of skin. Genetics control color, baldness, and texture.

• Nails: Keratin (a type of protein) hardens the epidermis creating fingernails. Cells forming the nail link together.

• Sweat: The sweat glands, also called the eccrine and apocrine glands, are a type of cooling for the body. It lets out beads of water which evaporate, cooling the body. The eccrine gland is connected to the sympathetic nervous system and is activated when nervous, or for strenuous activity. It also makes your heart beat faster in those situations. The Apocrine gland is located in your armpits and groin, it also produces a chemical that bacteria “act upon to produce sweat.”

• The Sebaceous Glands: discharges an oil that keeps hair and skin soft. If overproduced, it can cause pimples

How Do We Use It? • Skin is mainly used to protect the body from toxins outside the body, but there are other ways that humans use their skin such as:

• Marking the skin with things like tattoos and scarring as a work of art.

•Mutilation of the skin in come countries are seen as rites of passage (2) or to symbolize a specific group, like the Yakuza of Japan (1)

•The TV series TABOO covers some of these areas. (3)

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Is That It?

• Actually, skin is also used to attract the opposite sex or to make one look “beautiful”. Many products are out to “improve” the look and feel of skin. Some include makeup, face wash, and acne treatments.

What Kinds of Diseases Can Occur?

For more information on different skin diseases and an animation, visit here: http://pennhealth.com/health_info/animationplayer/skin_conditions.html

• Skin cancer from UV Rays affect the skin from too much exposure of sun.

•Also dermatives, hives, and rashes can occur.

How Do We Protect It?

Just as there are makeup products and skin care, there’s also products like aloe vera and sunscreen, to protect skin from damage.

Skin really is a versatile thing. It protects,

shields, holds, stretches, itches, stings, burns,

cools, heals, and comes in many different colors.

All we have to do is make sure it’s taken care of.

LINKS• o www.skincareblog.org/• o

http://www.mineral-makeup-reviews.com/Serious-Skin-Care-Mineral-Makeup-Reviews.html• o www.medicalook.com• o

http://www.savvy-spa.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/skin%20care.jpg• o http://www.aloette.com/images/standard/Skin_Care.jpg• o http://www.nadarra

.com/images/Natural-Skin-Care-Products-Sensitive-Skin.jpg• o http://itsallaboutbeauty.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/skin-care.jpg• o http://www.auraskinspa.com/images/sc_products.jpg• o http://medicalimages.allrefer.com/large/sunburn-2.jpg• o http://www.drpaitoon.com/aloe_vera/aloebottle.jpg• o http://www.druzillabrown

.com/store/images/uploads/aloe_vera_400x371.jpg• o www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1021• o http://www.prplastic.com/images/skinceuticals

%20skin%20care%20lady%20putting%20on%20sunblock.jpg• o http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/images/animalskinsetc.jpg• o http://www.flickr.com/photos/ridinfast/196713389/• o http://photography.nationalgeographic

.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/Content/elephant-skin-663376-ga.jpg• o http://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu

.au/mb140/CorePages/Epithelia/Images/oes041he1.jpg• o http://science.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/

Science/Images/Content/epidermis-sb3849-sw.jpg• o http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2007/09/070906132823.jpg• o http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/taboo/gallery_skin-

deep.html#photo• o http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/19325.jpg