The skin is more than just a covering. Our skin is the body’s largest organ.

One of the skin’s many functions is keeping out millions of bacteria and foreign substances that we come in contact with on a daily basis. It also excretes toxins and other substances from the body through sweat and skin eruptions. If the kidneys, bowels or lungs are overworked, the skin can temporarily help to ease the burden. Chronic and long-term skin problems are usually an indicator of an underlying problem relating to the other organs of elimination.

Common reasons for skin reactions or rashes can be allergies to mold, foods, chemicals on the skin, toxins sloughed off by other organs, reactions to chemicals in the food and water, reactions to alcohol, drugs, detergents, sun and wind, heat and cold as well as insect bites, poison oak/ivy/sumac or other plants, diaper rash and friction. Corns and calluses are a direct reaction by the skin to a friction such as a tight or ill-fitting shoe.

The skin consists of three basic layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous layers.

The epidermis, or outer layer, has no blood vessels and consists of four layers of cells. In order of their distance from the surface they are: the stratum corneum, stratum lucidum, stratum granulosum and stratum germinativum. The lowest layer, the stratum germinativum, multiply rapidly and as they grow they rise to the surface. Since there are no blood vessels at the surface and no way for the skin’s surface layer to receive nutrients, the outer skin layer dies and is continuously being shed. These cells sometimes contain a pigment called melanin, the dark granules that give the skin a brown or black coloring and is the base origin for the name, malignant melanoma.

Malignant melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. The tumor involved arises from the deeper, pigment producing layers of the skin. As many as half of all skin cancers of this type are believed to start with moles called dysplastic nevi, meaning odd shaped and/or odd colored. Some families seem to be more genetically prone to this type of mole and skin cancer. But, it may be carried in the DNA from one generation to the next because each generation continues what those before them did. Since the tumor is rooted deeply, and not as superficial as the other skin cancers, it can spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to the internal organs and is much more serious and life-threatening. This is not to say the other forms of skin cancers, squamish cell and basal cell carcinoma, should be ignored or taken lightly. Squamish cell and basal cell carcinoma, are superficial spreading, acral lentiginous, lentigo maligna and nodular melanomas.

The dermis, or what is often referred to as the true skin, consists of a thick layer of elastic, fibrous connective tissue that contains hair follicles, numerous blood and lymph vessels, nerves, smooth muscle fibers, glands and fat deposits. The eyelids are a thin type of dermis skin.

The dermis consists of an upper and lower layer. The upper, or papillary layer, has extensions reaching into the epidermis. The lower or reticular layer, is composed of bundles of interlaced white fibers and tissue that give the skin its’ elasticity.

Sebaceous glands, also known as oil glands, and sweat glands, a.k.a. sudoriferous glands, are accessory organs of the skin. Specialized forms of these glands are the mammary glands, connected with the production of milk, the ceruminous glands of the external ear which secrete wax, the ciliary glands at the edge of the eyelid and the Montgomery’s glands in the skin around the nipple of the breast.

Hair is involved in regulation of skin and body temperature and magnifies the sense of touch. Hair grows in the corium layer and the only living part of hair is below the surface. Hair grows from a live follicle that forms a shaft. The part we see above the surface of the skin is dead. .A scalp hair follicle grows about 5” per year and normally grows for 2-5 years. Eyelash and eyebrow have a life and growing period of only several months.

Toe and finger nails consist of the body, the free edge and root. The nail bed is the part under the nail, nail wall is the skin covering the root and sides and the laluna is the white portion at the base.