The Face Lift Massage: Rejuvenate Your Skin and Reduce Fine Lines and Wrinkles. Narendra Mehta

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СКАЧАТЬ the skin isn’t there just to cover you up and make you look good. It has many vital functions that protect you and keep you alive. It is also a pretty accurate indicator of your state of health. When you feel dreadful, your skin usually looks off color. Healthy-looking skin is a sign of good physical health – and good mental health, too. Once you study the skin in detail, you’ll begin to appreciate how complicated it is.

      The skin is the body’s largest organ. Spread out, it would cover about two square metres. It is constantly renewing itself, producing fresh cells and shedding dead ones as, for example, your clothes brush against your skin or you dry yourself with a towel. It is said that people shed what amounts to the entire surface of their skin once a week – no wonder that 80 percent of household dust is made up of human skin! If dead cells are allowed to accumulate they give the skin a dull, scaly appearance. So this is just one reason why a regular skin care regime, including exfoliation (see page 123), is important.

      the role of the skin

      The skin is highly intricate. Each tiny section of skin is packed with cells, nerves, blood vessels, hairs, sensory cells, and oil and sweat glands. The skin varies in thickness from only ¹/₅ in (0.5mm) around the eyes to ¹/₄ in (6mm) or more on the soles of the feet, where it has to cope with the increased wear and tear of walking. It also thickens anywhere on the body where extra protection is needed, such as on the hands of manual workers. But the basic functions of the skin are the same wherever it is. These are: to regulate body temperature, protect against damage and disease, remove waste products, monitor your surroundings, and produce vitamin D.

      temperature regulation

      The skin plays a key role in regulating your temperature. If you get too hot, perhaps because you’ve just entered a warm environment or have been exercising hard, the blood vessels in the skin dilate to allow more blood to pass through them. This allows excess heat to escape from the surface of the body through convection and radiation. It is the increased flow of blood through the skin that makes you look flushed. As an extra measure against overheating, the sweat glands produce perspiration that seeps on to the surface of the skin through tiny pores. The perspiration absorbs heat as it evaporates and so helps to lower your temperature.

      In cold weather, blood vessels in your skin contract to reduce the amount of blood flowing near the surface of your body and so conserve your heat. This is why some people look pale or almost blue when they’re cold. In addition, the hairs on the skin stand up and this traps a layer of warm air around the body to provide extra insulation. When this happens, small bumps called goose pimples appear on the skin as tiny muscles pull the hairs upright.

      protection

      The skin covers virtually the entire body, providing a barrier that protects the underlying tissues from dehydration, friction, physical and chemical damage, and invasion by harmful organisms. The skin is relatively waterproof, although some moisture is absorbed when you take a bath – this causes the skin to swell, producing the wrinkling we notice after a long soak. The skin also contains sebaceous glands that produce an oily substance called sebum. This keeps the skin supple and lubricated and helps protect against moisture loss. The skin still loses some moisture, however, especially in the dry atmosphere of a modern centrally heated home or office, which is why you should apply moisturizer regularly to keep the skin supple. Sweat glands have an important defensive role, too. Sweat is slightly acidic and combines with sebum to produce a protective layer called the acid mantle that guards against bacteria and fungi. Sweat also contains an enzyme, lysozyme, that can destroy bacteria. In response to sunlight, some skin cells produce a dark-brown pigment, melanin, which blocks damaging ultraviolet radiation.

      waste removal

      Sweat glands not only help to control body temperature, they also excrete water, salts, and organic waste products in the sweat, so helping to regulate the body’s salt and water levels and remove toxic substances. Regular exercise increases perspiration and so helps to flush out these toxins and prevent a harmful build-up.

      environmental monitor

      The skin is not only a barrier but also the main link between the body and the outside world, so its ability to monitor environmental conditions is of great importance. The skin houses nerve endings and receptors that detect stimuli related to temperature, touch, pressure, and damage. These nerve endings trigger impulses that travel to the central nervous system (CNS) to keep the brain informed about your surroundings, so you can make the appropriate response, such as pulling your hand away from a hot object. The connections between the skin and the nervous system are especially important during a massage. Even the lightest of touches is registered by the brain and has a direct and immediate influence on your state of mind and emotions; a pampering touch has a calming, soothing effect, while a firmer massage will leave you stimulated and invigorated.

      production of vitamin d

      Vitamin D is obtained from some foods, such as meat and fish, and is also formed in the body by the action of sunlight on the skin. This vitamin aids the absorption of calcium from the gut and so is needed for healthy teeth, bones, and nerves. Although you must protect the skin from the damaging effects of excessive ultraviolet radiation (see Chapter 8), regular moderate exposure to sunshine is vital to ensure an adequate intake of vitamin D.

      skin structure

      Bearing in mind just how important the skin is, it should come as no surprise to learn that this organ is not a shapeless mass of cells but has a complicated structure. The skin consists of two main layers; the outer one is the epidermis and the inner one is the dermis. The main function of the epidermis is to form a tough barrier against the outside world, while the dermis is a soft, thick cushion of connective tissue that lies directly below the epidermis and largely determines the way the skin looks. Both layers are constantly repairing and renewing themselves, but the dermis does so more slowly than the epidermis. Under the dermis is a layer of fat cells, known as adipose tissue or subcutaneous (below the skin) fat, which provides insulation and protective padding as well as a store of energy.

      Just as the thickness of the skin varies slightly throughout the body, so does the structure. For example, you do not find hairs on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet. Generally, though, the skin is pretty similar all over the body. If you examine the skin in more detail you can see what an amazing job it does.

       The epidermis

      The epidermis is sub-divided into four distinct layers: the basal, spinous, granular, and cornified layers.

      

      Basal layer: Cells here are attached to the basement membrane, which separates the epidermis from the dermis. Basal cells continually divide and grow to produce new cells that gradually move up through the epidermal layers to the surface. The basal layer also contains special cells, called melanocytes, that produce the pigment melanin. Melanin not only acts as a sunscreen against ultraviolet light but it also determines normal skin color, being naturally more prevalent in darker-skinned people.

      

      Spinous layer: Here, cells rising up from the basal layer start to flatten out and produce a tough protein, keratin, to protect the body from harm.

      

      Granular layer: In this layer, the still-living cells continue to flatten and fill with keratin but then gradually lose their nuclei to become СКАЧАТЬ