Skin Care Advice

While the state of your skin, good or bad, has much to do with heredity, hormones and your lifestyle, keeping it clean and protected plays a very important part in its surface condition and long-lasting looks. The human body is made up of about seventy per cent water, and fifteen per cent or more of this is in the dermis. The outermost layer of your skin the part you see and skin care and beauty products work on depends for its youthful looks and resilience on a constant supply of water from the lower layers and its ability to retain that water without losing too much through evaporation. Also up there on the surface, sebum (the fatty secretion of the sebaceous glands), sweat and evaporating water mingle to form a slightly acidic, protective emulsion called the hydro-lipidic film which in turn helps to prevent excessive evaporation of water. It’s a perfect irrigation system when all is working well, but so much can upset it.

Even a normal skin can dry out if it spends most of its days stuck in the dry atmosphere of many air-conditioned buildings or goes through a long winter of temperature changes from over-enthusiastic central heating indoors to icy cold and skin-stripping winds outside. All the hormonal changing conditions such as periods, pregnancy, menopause, and even the Pill, can throw out the natural balance of your skin. Other culprits might be air travel, a holiday in the sun, drastic dieting and over-harsh or poor cleansing processes. Illness, even a relatively minor one that’s treated with over-the-counter medicaments, can change your skin’s behavior.
Sebum output and the skin’s natural moisture content diminish as we grow older. And a down period at any time in your life when you’re short of sleep, eating irregularly or living with negative stress can play havoc with your skin.
Nothing remains static on the skin front and you may be weary of hear­ing talk of dry, oily or combination skin when yours seems to vary from day to day, and certainly from season to season. But you really do have a basic type, which will naturally move to drier, wherever it starts, as the years go by. Skin care companies spend a fortune researching ingredients that will help counteract natural imbalances and adverse conditions, so when you’re buying products, aim for the category formulated for your skin’s usual behaviour, but keep a careful check for any changes.

Common Skin Problems

There are more than a thousand conditions that may affect the skin but most skin diseases can be categorized according to nine common types.

· Rashes.

A rash is an area of red, inflamed skin or a group a individual spots. These can be caused by irritation, allergy, infection an underlying disease, as well as by structural defects - for example blocked pores or malfunctioning oil glands. Examples of rashes dude acne, dermatitis, eczema, hives, pityriasis rosea, and psorasis.

· Viral infections.

These occur when a virus penetrates the stratum corneum and infects the inner layers of the skin. Example viral skin infections include herpes simplex, shingles (herpes zoster) and warts. Some systemic viral infections, such as chicken pox at measles, may also affect the skin. Viral infections cannot be cured with antibiotics.

· Bacterial infections.

Such infections are caused by a variety of bacteria, the most common types being staphylococ streptococci. Bacteria may infect the topmost layers of skin, the follicles, or the deeper layers of skin. If not treated correctly, these infections may spread throughout the body. Examples include impel folliculitis, cellulitis, and Lyme disease. Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections.

· Fungal infections.

Harmless fungi are always present on surface of the skin, and infection occurs when these organisms entry into the body These infections are usually superficial, affecting the skin, hair, and nails; examples include athlete’s foot, lock itch, and ringworm. However, in people with suppressed immune systems or who have been taking antibiotics long-term, the fungi may spread to deep within the body, causing more serious disease.

· Parasitic infections.

These infections occur after exposure to parasites such as lice and scabies.

· Pigmentation disorders.

The amount of pigment in the skin is determined by the amount of melanin being produced by the body Loss of pigment (hypo pigmentation) can be caused by an absence of melanocytes, malfunctioning cells, exposure to cold or chemicals, or some types of infection. An increase in pigment (hyperpigmentation) may be caused by skin irritation, hormonal changes, aging, a meta­bolic disorder, or another underlying problem. Age spots, freckles, and melasma are examples of hyperpigmentation; vitiligo is an exam­ple of hypopigmentation.

· Tumors and cancers.

These growths arise when skin cells begin to multiply faster than normal. Not every skin growth is cancer­ous: Some tumors are harmless and will not spread. Skin cancer is the most common of all the cancers, affecting 800,000 Americans each year. It is caused, in 90 percent of cases, by sun exposure. The three types of skin cancer are basal cell cancer (the most curable), squa­mous cell cancer (which may grow and spread), and malignant mela­noma (the most deadly form). Prevention involves protecting the skin against damaging ultraviolet rays. Early detection helps to improve the chances of a cure, so regular self-examinations are recommended.

· Trauma.

Trauma describes an injury to the skin caused by a blow, cut, or burn. Any time the surface of the skin is broken, the body
becomes more susceptible to infection and disease.

· Other conditions.

Wrinkles, rosacea, spider veins, and vari­cose veins are among those conditions that cannot be neatly catego­rized. Wrinkles are caused by a breakdown of the collagen and elastin within the dermis, which results in sagging skin. Rosacea is a long­term disorder in which the skin of the face becomes red and develops pimples, lesions, and more rarely enlargement of the nose. Its cause is unknown. Spider veins and varicose veins become apparent when blood vessels enlarge and become visible through the surface of the skin.

Skin Anatomy

The skin is an ever-changing organ that contains many specialized cells and structures. The skin functions as a protective barrier that interfaces with a sometimes-hostile environment. It is also very involved in maintaining the proper temperature for the body to function well. It gathers sensory information from the environment, and plays an active role in the immune system protecting us from disease. Understanding how the skin can function in these many ways starts with understanding the structure of the 3 layers of skin - the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue.

Animal skin products

The term skin refers to the covering of a small animal, such as a sheep, goat (goatskin), pig, snake (snakeskin) etc or the young of a large animal.The term hides or rawhide refers to the covering of a large adult animal such as a cow, buffalo, horse etc.Skins and hides from different animals are used for clothing, bags and other consumer products, usually in the form of leather, but also furs.

Skin can also be used to make products such as gelatin, glue and wool. Mucus of skin from hagfish is still under research.

Variability in skin tone

ndividuals with ancestors from different parts of the world can have highly visible differences in skin pigmentation. Individuals with Sub-Saharan African ancestry (black people) tend towards darker skin, while those of Northern European descent (white people) have paler skin. Between these extremes are individuals of Asian, South-East Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, Polynesian and Melanesian descent.

The skin of black people has more variation in color from one part of the body to another than does the skin of other racial groups, particularly the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Part of this is the result of the variations in the thickness of the skin or different parts of the body. The thicker the skin, the more layers of cell with melanin in them, and the darker the color. In addition, these parts of the body do not have melanin-producing cells.

Darker skin hinders UV A rays from penetrating. Since vitamin B folats are degraded by UV A and vitamin D is synthesized different skin tones are more likely to produce different vitamin deficiencies.

Skin Anatomy components

Skin has pigmentation, or melanin, provided by melanocytes, which absorb some of the potentially dangerous ultraviolet radiation (UV) in sunlight. It also contains DNA-repair enzymes that help reverse UV damage, and people who lack the genes for these enzymes suffer high rates of skin cancer. One form predominantly produced by UV light, malignant melanoma, is particularly invasive, causing it to spread quickly, and can often be deadly. Human skin pigmentation varies among populations in a striking manner. This has led to the classification of people(s) on the basis of skin color.

Mammalian skin often contains hairs, which in sufficient density is called fur. The hair mainly serves to augment the insulation the skin provides, but can also serve as a secondary sexual characteristic or as camouflage. On some animals, the skin is very hard and thick, and can be processed to create leather. Reptiles and fish have hard protective scales on their skin for protection, and birds have hard feathers, all made of tough β-keratins. Amphibian skin is not a strong barrier to passage of chemicals and is often subject to osmosis. A frog sitting in an anesthetic solution could quickly go to sleep.

The skin is often known as the largest organ of the human body. This applies to exterior surface, as it covers the body, appearing to have the largest surface area of all the organs. For the average adult human, the skin has a surface area of between 1.5-2.0 square meters (16.1-21.5 sq ft.), most of it is between 2-3 mm (0.10 inch) thick. The average square inch (6.5 cm²) of skin holds 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 melanocytes, and more than a thousand nerve endings.

Skin Anatomy

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis, of an animal. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial tissues, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments, internal organs. The adjective cutaneous literally means "of the skin"Because it interfaces with the environment, skin plays a very important role in protecting (the body) against pathogens. Its other functions are insulation, temperature regulation, sensation, synthesis of vitamin D, and the protection of vitamin B folates. Severely damaged skin will try to heal by forming scar tissue. This is often discolored and depigmented.In humans, skin pigmentation varies among populations, and skin type can range from dry to oily.