11 surprising skin facts
Our skin is pretty fascinating. Throughout the span of a lifetime it goes through many changes in size, color and texture. It can reveal many things about ourselves such as age, health and heritage. We’ve come up with a list of a few facts that you might not have known about your skin. Prepare to be surprised by what this overlooked organ (yes, it’s an organ more on that below) can do.
1. Skin Regulates Temperature
Feeling hot or cold is often determined by your skin. Your skin can regulate temperature through its blood supply. When your blood vessels dilate skin allows for heat loss and when vessels constrict they help retain heat.
2. It’s The Largest Organ In Your Body
As mentioned above, although it’s external, your skin is actually the biggest organ and spans a massive 22 square feet. This makes it significantly larger than your second largest organ, the liver.
3. You Start Aging Pretty Young
Once you hit 25, your collagen levels start to slowly deplete, which can result in skin sagging and the onset of fine lines. Antioxidants such as Vitamin C and retinol can help maintain youthful-looking skin.
4. Sleeping Can Give You Wrinkles
Sleep is crucial to skin health as it helps cell regeneration and collagen production. Nevertheless, if you sleep on your side or your stomach you could be applying pressure to your face and causing wrinkles to form. Try to sleep on your back or purchase silk or satin pillowcases to avoid creasing.
5. You Skin Has Three Layers
Skin isn’t just one layer, it’s made up of three; the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis.
6. Dark Spots Can Develop As Soon As Your Skin Is Unprotected In The Sun
Sun damage can happen quickly even if you only spend a short period of time outside. That’s why it’s extremely important to wear SPF to prevent damage that can lead to hyperpigmentation.
7. We Shed Thousands Of Skin Cells Each Minute
A whopping 30,000 to 40,000 per minute!
8. Your Skin Has Varying Levels Of Thickness
Your eyelids have the thinnest skin while the palms and soles of your feet are the thickest.
9. You Can Suddenly Switch Skin Types
Life changes such as like hormonal imbalance, climate change, and age can make your skin go from one type to another. You can have dry skin and suddenly have oily skin and vice versa at different points in your life.
10. Genetics Aren’t The Only Thing That Determine How Your Skin Ages
How your skin ages isn’t just about your genetics, external factors can play a role as well. Sun exposure accounts for almost 90 percent of premature aging and other factors such as pollution, and smoking can affect how old you look.
11. Your Facial Expressions Can Cause Wrinkles
Laughing, frowning and generally emoting can cause fine lines on your face, which eventually can turn into wrinkles. Don’t limit your facial expressions but try to be cognizant of things like furrowing your brows frequently to avoid lines forming there too soon.
