Skin Care Essentials Part 1: Why is skin care important?

Woman or man, young or old, everyone should be concerned about having healthy skin. Why? Your skin is your body’s largest organ. On average, an adult has about 22 square feet of skin on their body–which is enough to fill a typical doorway. Another perspective is that your skin weighs approximately 8 pounds, or about the same as a gallon of milk.

Your skin is essential to keeping your body temperature even, preventing you from over heating or getting to cold. It protects you from harmful microbes which can cause infections. Your skin contains thousand of nerve endings that let you interact with the world. Vitamin D, which is essential for strong bones, is produced in your skin.

Skin is an amazing organ, which is constantly evolving and changing throughout your lifetime. Your skin renews itself about once every 35 days, by shedding about 40,000 skin cells per minute! By the time you’re 20, you’ve already cycled through your skin about 200 times.

Skin is also important in many social aspects. Your skin plays a large role in the first impression you make when meeting new people. Touch is an important part of building relationships, dry or irritated skin can make a barrier between you and those you love. Babies crave the warm soft touch of their caregivers and rely on it for healthy emotional development, but rough, dry hands can irritate their sensitive skin. Hugs release oxytocin that reduce stress levels and may even increase your resistance to the common cold, but if your skin hurts the hug hurts.

Because your skin is constantly renewing itself it is never too late to start a healthy skin care routine. This series will explore how to keep your skin healthy and looking its best!

Explore the whole series:

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