Lifestyle Choices

Skin protects your internal organs from damage and bacteria that can cause infections. It regulates your body’s temperature. And skin, through the sense of touch, sends messages to your brain about pain and other sensations.

The skin is a dynamic organ, constantly being replenished. By its texture, color, temperature, and clarity, your skin gives information about your general health.

Different Kinds of Skin

Different parts of your body have different kinds of skin. Some skin is thick and durable, like the skin on your elbows, knees, and the soles of your feet. Other skin is thin and delicate, such as the skin on your eyelids or under your arms.

Skin is made up of two layers. Dermis is the inner layer of skin just below the surface. Nerves, sweat glands, and the “roots” (or follicles) of hair are found in the dermis. Each tiny hair that covers your skin has a gland that secretes oil, or sebum, which helps keep the skin soft and flexible.

The outer layer of skin that we see is called the epidermis. Pores are tiny “holes” that can be seen in the skin’s epidermis. Pores allow perspiration to leave your body through the skin.

Perspiration allows your body to cool itself… When you are hot, your body produces sweat, which evaporates on the surface of your skin. As the sweat dries, your skin becomes cooler.

This cooling process is very important. It keeps your body at the right temperature. But the sweat that leaves your body can attract grime and can block pores. This can cause a number of skin problems.

The oil that is secreted, or released, from your body through your skin is important. Oil keeps your skin soft. It protects your skin from wind, cold, and other elements. But oil can also clog your pores, attract dirt, and cause blemishes.

The Skin of a Teen

When you enter your teens, your body goes through many changes. The onset of puberty starts the production of hormones in the adolescent. These hormones trigger glands and organsto produce certain oils and other chemicals. Your skin may become more oily, and begin to look shiny and feel greasy, especially in the “T-zone” the area across your forehead, and down over your nose and chin.

Because of these changes during adolescence, you may develop blackheads, pimples, and other blemishes even if you have never had any skin problems before. Your face, neck, back, shoulders, and chest may all be affected by the oil being produced by your body.

You can help your skin look its best with careful cleansing every day. It is very important to be gentle with your skin. Scrubbing your skin too hard, or using products that dry your skin, may seem like a good idea, but doing this can encourage your body to produce more oil. It can actually make your skin look worse.

Sitting in the sun to dry the excess oil from your skin might also seem like a good idea. But the heat from the sun dries the epidermis, while stimulating more oil production in the dermis. Research hasshown that in the last few decades, the sun has become even more dangerous to human skin. This is because of loss to the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a layer of gases in the atmosphere that reduces the harmful rays of the sun. As this layer has been reduced, the ultraviolet rays of the sun have become more dangerous. Long hours of sun worship can make your skin problems worse.Long hours of sun tanning can also cause wrinkles and serious medical problems such as skin cancer.

When your body produces less oil, your skin becomes dry. Overdryness takes the “glow” away from your skin, making the top layer look ashy, flaky, and wrinkled. During the winter months your skin can more easily become dry. Exposure to cold, dry wind outdoors can make your skin chapped. Hot, dry air indoors can also dehydrate, or take moisture from, your skin.

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