Your skin is amazing. How well do you know it? In honor of #NationalHealthySkinMonth this November, let’s take a moment to appreciate your body’s largest organ for everything it does – from protection to heat regulation and everything in between. While each individual is different, the numbers below will give you a sense of just how awesome and complex the skin can be.
Here are some surprising skin facts that are sure to impress your friends and family over the dinner table this Thanksgiving:
The skin is the largest organ in your body, and is constantly regenerating itself.
- Skin makes up over 15% of your overall body weight. This is more than your brain, lungs, and heart combined!
- Your entire skin may cover an area between 16.1 – 21.5 sq ft.
- Over a 24 hour period, you may lose about 1 million skin cells.
- The epidermis, your skin’s protective layer, renews itself approximately every 2 to 4 weeks.
Not all of your skin is visible to the eye.
- human skin has three layers: the epidermis (your skin’s barrier and pigment layer), the dermis (where hair follicles and sweat glands reside), and the hypodermis (a subcutaneous layer of fats and connective tissue).
- Skin thickness varies vastly from place to place on your body, from about 0.5 mm thick on the eyelids to 4.0 mm on your heels. The skin on your forearm is about 1.3 mm thick.
Your skin does more than you might think.
- 1 square inch of skin holds 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 melanocytes, and more than 1,000 nerve endings.
- The skin contains 3 classes of sensory receptors that mediate sensitivity to touch, temperature, pain, and pressure.
- The average person sweats between 0.8 to 1.4 liters during 1 hour of vigorous exercise to control your body temperature.
- Your skin is home to more than 1,000 species of harmless commensal bacteria that may even play a protective role against disease.
You aren’t alone – many dermatologic conditions are highly common.
- Acne is the most common skin condition in the U.S., affecting 40 to 50 million people.
- An estimated 80% of people are affected by some form of skin breakouts between the ages of 11 and 30.
- Estimates state that 1 in 5 Americans will have skin cancer during their lifetime.
- Melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, has doubled in incidence over the past 30 years in the US, making it more important than ever to have skin lesions checked.
- Collagen fibers in your dermis can decrease by up to 5% each year as we age. This decrease in elasticity causes visible signs of skin aging.
Share these facts with a friend, and remember, top-rated US dermatologists are always at your fingertips with SkyMD. Have a skin health question or concern? Visit a dermatologist without leaving home today.