We have spoken often of the marvels of skin. You know now what a complex organ of the body it is. One of it’s prime functions is to as a barrier against bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, heat, ultraviolet (UV) rays, and water loss. An engineering masterpiece indeed!
The last thing you want to do is poison your precious skin with toxic formulations that only make its job more difficult. Learning about your skin helps you treat it with respect, avoiding lathering it with artificial lotions, laden with chemical compounds. Learn to love your skin!
Skin is More than Meets the Eye
Covering some 20 square feet (almost 2 ㎡) your skin is your largest and heaviest organ. Yes, it's a protective covering for your interior body parts but think if it….at only a few millimeters thick, every square inch of the lower layers is home to 20 blood vessels, over 1,000 nerve endings, and 650 sweat glands!
Ingenious Epidermal Skin Recycling
You shed about 500 million skin cells a day, with your outer epidermis consisting of 20-30 layers of dead cells! In the deeper epidermal layers, your skin is busy making new layers for you, which migrate to the surface over a four-week period to replace the older layers as they are sloughed off.
Dynamics of Your Dermis
Snugly below your epidermis, the connective tissues comprise your dermis, which protects the body from stress and strain. Your skin’s elasticity and strength lie here, in your dermal layers, where your hair follicles are placed in among the sweat and oil glands. Here are your lymphatic vessels and from here, sensation and blood are supplied to your skin.
Your Hidden Hypodermis
The deepest layers, the subcutaneous tissue - technically not part of the skin as such but firmly attached, provide nerves and blood supply. Think of it as padding for your muscles, tendons, and bones.
This further layer of connective tissue contains mostly fat and elastin - both assit the skin to return to normal after stretching for example. The right amount of fat insulates your body and prevents you from losing too much heat.
How You Help Your Skin
With such an array of capabilities, you can do much to assist your skin to carry out its functions in support of your health and well-being. Its job is to protect you from environmental pollutants and harmful pathogens.
Your role is to support your skin's function internally and externally.
- Internal Skin support - drink plenty of water to hydrate, detox regularly, and eat healthily.
- External Skin support - apply organic balms that contain natural ingredients that genuinely feed and nourish your skin.
Topical balms, creams, and oils enter through all the layers of your skin, right to the depths, where muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones can benefit.
In summary: your skin is a marvel of engineering genius and while its works silently and invisibly, your support counts. Nourish yourself internally and externally and love the skin you’re in!
NB: All SUPERSALVE products are completely free from petrochemicals, parabens and phthalates, and are safe for the whole family, from babies to the elderly and everything in between!