The next time you take a long bath or stay in a swimming pool for a long time, notice
how soggy and rippled the skin on your palms and soles looks after a while. That’s
because they’ve been immersed in water for a long period and your waterproof protective
layer of sebum (the oily stuff that plays a large role in acne, as I discuss in
Chapter 3) got washed away, so water can now get readily absorbed into the outer
layer of your epidermis.
The rippling or wrinkled appearance develops because your skin has increased its
surface area to accommodate all the water it absorbed during that time. It’s waterlogged!
The “wrinkling” is so obvious on your palms and soles because they have
the thickest stratum corneum. If you watch your hand for 5 minutes or so, you’ll see
that the corrugated look disappears.
That’s because the water soon evaporates
from your overhydrated stratum corneum.
Now, if you apply a moisturizer before the water evaporates, you can “lock in” the
water that was absorbed while you were bathing or showering. Moisturizers don’t
add water to the skin; instead, they reduce water loss by slowing its evaporation.
Your take home message: If you have dry skin, apply a moisturizer while your skin
is still damp.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Coping with an oil glut
If you have excessively oily skin, that’s due to your sebaceous glands producing more sebum (the acne-related oil that I discuss in detail in Chapter 3) than you’d like them to. This is often the case if you also happen to have acne. But for now, here are some tips on caring for your oily skin:
Washing your face
Rocket science? Maybe not. But as a dermatologist, I have a few reasons for walking you through a little face-washing tutorial. First, I often begin my instructions for applying medications in later chapters with phrases like “Wash your skin . . .” or “To a clean, dry face, apply . . .” so, it seemed to make sense that I fill you in on the details.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Basic Operating Instructions: Taking Care of Your Skin
Different people and different skin types need to do different things for their skin. We have an old expression in dermatology that still rings true: “If it’s dry, wet it; if it’s wet, dry it.”
In recent decades, another truism has been added: “If it’s fair, shield it; if it’s dark, you’re probably very fortunate.” That’s because your melanin protects you from skin cancers, wrinkling, and keeps you looking young.
If your skin is fair, if you burn easily, or if you have a personal or family history of skin cancer, you should protect yourself from the sun by wearing hats and caps, using sunscreens, and avoiding going to tanning parlors.
If your skin is dark, you may have other reasons to protect it from the sun (see Chapter 12 where I talk about the dark spots that occur in dark skin).
People with dark complexioned or Asian skin may have other reasons to be very sensitive and prone to irritation and possibly less tolerant of many of the topical medications that are used to treat acne.
The ultimate operating instruction: Whether you have dry, regular, or oily skin, a big acne breakout or smooth sailing on the pimple front, there’s something that’ll keep your face looking its best and most attractive to the rest of the world and is guaranteed to help you make friends and influence people.
I suggest that you simply exercise your muscles of facial expression — and smile!
In recent decades, another truism has been added: “If it’s fair, shield it; if it’s dark, you’re probably very fortunate.” That’s because your melanin protects you from skin cancers, wrinkling, and keeps you looking young.
If your skin is fair, if you burn easily, or if you have a personal or family history of skin cancer, you should protect yourself from the sun by wearing hats and caps, using sunscreens, and avoiding going to tanning parlors.
If your skin is dark, you may have other reasons to protect it from the sun (see Chapter 12 where I talk about the dark spots that occur in dark skin).
People with dark complexioned or Asian skin may have other reasons to be very sensitive and prone to irritation and possibly less tolerant of many of the topical medications that are used to treat acne.
The ultimate operating instruction: Whether you have dry, regular, or oily skin, a big acne breakout or smooth sailing on the pimple front, there’s something that’ll keep your face looking its best and most attractive to the rest of the world and is guaranteed to help you make friends and influence people.
I suggest that you simply exercise your muscles of facial expression — and smile!
Digging deeper: Your subcutaneous layer
Fat cells known as lipocytes reside in the subcutaneous layer. Our visit to the subcutaneous layer will be brief because as far as acne is concerned, there’s not much action going on here.
But if you’re interested, your subcutaneous layer is what your outer layers of skin rest upon. Your fatty layer is your body’s insulator, cushion, and natural shock absorber (and it also helps to keep the diet industry in business!).
The subcutaneous layer contains arteries, veins, lymph vessels, and nerves that are larger than those found in your dermis. If you go any deeper, you’ll come upon muscles and possibly some of your inner organs. That’s out of bounds! So I’ll end the anatomical tour right here in Fat City.
But if you’re interested, your subcutaneous layer is what your outer layers of skin rest upon. Your fatty layer is your body’s insulator, cushion, and natural shock absorber (and it also helps to keep the diet industry in business!).
The subcutaneous layer contains arteries, veins, lymph vessels, and nerves that are larger than those found in your dermis. If you go any deeper, you’ll come upon muscles and possibly some of your inner organs. That’s out of bounds! So I’ll end the anatomical tour right here in Fat City.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Scratching the surface: Now your dermis is showing!
Your dermis, the layer of skin that lies just under your epidermis, has an intimate relationship with your epidermis. It comes equipped with sensory nerves, sweat glands, blood vessels, and hair follicles.
It nourishes the epidermis by providing gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, which reach the epidermis by diffusing through the basement membrane.
The epidermis can’t survive without the dermis, because it has no nerves or blood supply of its own. Throughout the dermis are collagen and elastin fibers. Collagen is a resilient protein that provides rigidity and strength to the dermis.
Elastin is made of a protein structure that is able to coil and recoil like a spring. This protein is what gives the skin its elasticity.
A hair follicle is a hair-containing canal; a tube-shaped sheath that surrounds the part of the hair that is under the skin. It’s located in the epidermis and the dermis.
Blocked hair follicles are often at the root of the acne problem. In fact, it seems like the hair follicle is the central focus of this entire book! (To read a detailed description of how a follicle becomes blocked and a pimple forms, skip ahead to Chapter 3.)
Styes, boils, shaving bumps — I could go on and on — all have their origins in the hair follicle. In Chapter 19, I go into a few of these conditions that folks often mistake for acne.
It nourishes the epidermis by providing gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, which reach the epidermis by diffusing through the basement membrane.
The epidermis can’t survive without the dermis, because it has no nerves or blood supply of its own. Throughout the dermis are collagen and elastin fibers. Collagen is a resilient protein that provides rigidity and strength to the dermis.
Elastin is made of a protein structure that is able to coil and recoil like a spring. This protein is what gives the skin its elasticity.
A hair follicle is a hair-containing canal; a tube-shaped sheath that surrounds the part of the hair that is under the skin. It’s located in the epidermis and the dermis.
Blocked hair follicles are often at the root of the acne problem. In fact, it seems like the hair follicle is the central focus of this entire book! (To read a detailed description of how a follicle becomes blocked and a pimple forms, skip ahead to Chapter 3.)
Styes, boils, shaving bumps — I could go on and on — all have their origins in the hair follicle. In Chapter 19, I go into a few of these conditions that folks often mistake for acne.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Exploring Skin, Your Largest Organ
You may not really think of the skin as an organ, like the heart and lungs. To many people, skin seems more like a simple cover to prevent their insides from falling out. An organ is a somewhat independent part of the human body that performs a specific function.
Once you know that, you can see that the skin is an organ, because it performs the following specific functions (in addition to others):
Because your skin has so many functions, you may not be surprised to discover that it also has a rather complicated structure with many working parts.
It contains hairs that have their own oil glands and tiny muscles — I’ll bet that you didn’t know that hairs have muscles! Your skin has sensory nerves — hot, cold, touch, and pressure receptors. It also is home to blood vessels, lymph vessels, and sweat glands.
Plus, your skin has microscopic pigmentproducing cells, cells that work on your immunity, as well as cells that protect and replace themselves. With all that going on, you may be surprised that your skin doesn’t have its own zip code.
Human skin is made up of three layers. First come the top two layers — the epidermis (the outside layer of skin that you can touch and see) and the dermis (which is located directly beneath the epidermis).
Then comes the third, bottom fatty layer that the epidermis and dermis rest upon, which is called the subcutaneous layer. The prefix epi means “upon” and derm means “skin,” so, together, they form epidermis (upon the skin).
And obviously, dermis means “skin.” The prefix sub means “under” and cutaneous is another reference to “skin,” so the word subcutaneous means “under the skin.”
Once you know that, you can see that the skin is an organ, because it performs the following specific functions (in addition to others):
- Protects your body from infection
- Serves as a waterproof barrier between you and the outside world
- Shields you from the sun’s harmful rays
- Provides cushioning like a shock absorber that defends you from injury
- Insulates your body and keeps your temperature right around a cozy 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius)
- Acts as an energy reserve
- Alerts you to potential harm through your sensations of touch and pain
- Repairs itself (that’s why cuts heal)
- Produces vitamin D
Because your skin has so many functions, you may not be surprised to discover that it also has a rather complicated structure with many working parts.
It contains hairs that have their own oil glands and tiny muscles — I’ll bet that you didn’t know that hairs have muscles! Your skin has sensory nerves — hot, cold, touch, and pressure receptors. It also is home to blood vessels, lymph vessels, and sweat glands.
Plus, your skin has microscopic pigmentproducing cells, cells that work on your immunity, as well as cells that protect and replace themselves. With all that going on, you may be surprised that your skin doesn’t have its own zip code.
Human skin is made up of three layers. First come the top two layers — the epidermis (the outside layer of skin that you can touch and see) and the dermis (which is located directly beneath the epidermis).
Then comes the third, bottom fatty layer that the epidermis and dermis rest upon, which is called the subcutaneous layer. The prefix epi means “upon” and derm means “skin,” so, together, they form epidermis (upon the skin).
And obviously, dermis means “skin.” The prefix sub means “under” and cutaneous is another reference to “skin,” so the word subcutaneous means “under the skin.”
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