silky skin. :D

when we talk about the integumentary system, the layman's term for this skin, hair, nails and simply SKIN. :D

skin, as we all know in discussion, is the largest organ in the body where it covers all the body. it's the one of the misconceptions of people that the skin is NOT the largest organ. haha. :D some of its functions are to protect the body, to keep us from drying out, produces vitamin D with sunlight, to regulate the body temperature, and to act as storage for lipids that are necessary for energy. well anyway, there are three layers in skin: epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis or subcutaneous faschia.

epidermis is the outermost part layer of the skin. it is the visible part of the skin. it has no blood vessels or nerve cells, or avascular type. there are at least four or five sublayers of epidermis. most common of them are stratum corneum or the most outer sublayer of epidermis, and the stratum basale or the innermost layer of the epidermis. it contains the melanocytes or the cells that are responsible for the secretion of melanin, which is in charge of our skin color.

after epidermis, there's dermis. the dermis is in the middle of the epidermis and hypodermis. it is considered as the true skin. you can see most of the glands, nerves and fats here. examples of glands here are apocrine and eccrine. apocrine are found in the armpits and in the private area, etc. while eccrine are found in all parts of the skin.

the innermost layer is the hypodermis or subcutaneous faschia. you can find lipocytes or the fat cells that provides padding to protect deeper tissues of the body. [i thought of this cells as pork and beans in the illustration in the book. :D]

there are common accidents that involves the skin. including the scary BURNS. these burns are examined and identified through the size of the dammage of skin and the depth of burn. of course, there are different degrees of burns: first degree or the burn that damages only the epidermis, the second degree or the burn that damages the epidermis and a part of dermis, the third degree or the burn that affects the three layers, and the fourth degree that afftects up to the bone. in determining burns, there is the rule of nines that divides the body into regions and gives a percentage of body surface area values.

also, if there's skin, there's nails. nails are made from keratinized dead cells and covers them. what is visible is the nail body. the crescent moon-like is the lunula. and the a fold of tissue that covers nail root is the cuticle.

hair. on the other hand, helps regulate the body temp. and has shaft as its visible part and follicle or its root. the sebacious glands that are in our scalps secrete sebum or the antibacterial oil in hair.

many skin. saggy. haha ;D