Skin is an incredible organ that we should take care of, so it lasts us a lifetime. We worry about wrinkles, sunburn, acne and blemishes when it comes to taking care of our skin, especially the skin on the most visible part of our body, the face. How much do you really know about your skin? There are a lot of myths, theories and advertising ploys to shape our opinions, but here are some facts that might enlighten you:
- Skin is the largest organ
Skin is the biggest organ of your body. You have about 19 square feet of skin covering your entire body. That’s a lot of skin to look after and it weighs approximately 16% of our total body weight.
- It helps to regulate your temperature
The skin that surrounds us plays a crucial role as our body’s thermostat. As we get hotter, our sweat glands get activated and work to cool us down. It is the act of sweating that regulates the temperature of our body. Cleverly, in colder temperatures, the blood vessels in your skin constrict which limits the amount of warm blood reaching the outer layers of your skin thus trapping the heat inside. Pores in your skin will also decrease in size to help retain heat.
- Melanin is a pigment that causes colour
Skin colour varies between every human, no matter their racial heritage. The colour varies from very pale to dark, depending on the amount of melanin the body produces. Every person has the exact same number of melanin-producing cells, but we don’t all produce the same levels of the pigment. The more melanin produced, the darker your skin colour will be.
- Skin is self-regenerating
You probably know already that your skin sheds dead cells every day, but did you know that your skin creates a new layer for itself every 28 days. Even while you’re sleeping, your skin is working hard to exfoliate itself. Clever, right? Dead cells can sometimes stick around, so it’s a good idea to exfoliate once or twice a week depending on your skin type. To smoothen out frown lines or crow’s feet on your face, why not consider Botox Gloucester with a Gloucester Botox Treatment by Doctor Kate
- Your skin is covered with bacteria
Rather shockingly, our skin is covered with millions of bacteria in highly diverse colonies known as skin microbiota. They are not all bad though, and it’s the good bacteria on our skin that help our immune cells to fight the microbes that cause disease.
- Acne is not caused by diet or dirt alone
These are myths that persist, but dirt and diet are not enough on their own to cause outbreaks of pimples. Acne can often be caused by menstruation, pregnancy, medicines, hair products, make-up, sweating or any changes in hormone levels.
- Sunlight doesn’t help acne
If anything, following the advice of this misconception will make zits worse, not better. The drying-out and tanning effect might lull you into a false sense of security to start with, however, UV rays increase oil production in your pores. Sunbathing will also cause the outer of facial skin to harden, blocking your pores and encouraging worse breakouts.