How much do you think you know about your skin? Do you know your skin is the largest organ in the body?
Here are 20 facts about your skin you probably didn’t know
1. The skin is the largest organ in the body.
2. The skin accounts for around 15% of your body weight.
3. There are two types of skins – hairy and glabrous.
4. Your skin has three layers – the epidermis, dermis and subcutis.
5. The thinnest skin is found on your eyelids and it’s about 0.02mm thick.
6. The thickest skin is found on your feet and it’s about 1.4mm deep.
7. You lose around 20-100 hairs a day.
8. Hair is made from a protein called keratin.
9. Over 50% of the dust in your home is actually dead skin.
10. Every minute, your skin sheds over 30,000 dead cells.
11. Your skin has its own bacteria microbiome of over 1000 species and around 1,000,000,000,000 individual bacteria.
12. On average, 14 species of fungi live between your toes.
13. Your skin colour is the result of a protein called melanin. Large tentacle-like cells called melanocytes produce and distribute melanin.
14. Around 7% of skin cells are melanocytes.
15. Everyone has the same number of melanocytes. Skin colour is due to its activity, not quantity.
16. 1 in 110,000 people have albinism, a lack of melanocytes.
17. It takes up to 6 months for babies to develop their permanent skin tone.
18. Melanin is also responsible for eye colour.
19. Boils are caused by staphylococcal bacteria. It enters through a tiny cut and travels down to the hair follicle.
20. The glands that produce wax in your ears are specialized sweat glands.
Phil