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The more we understand about our skin, the better. While it’s not something that everyone thinks about all the time, the reality is that human skin is extremely complex. It has its own health needs, it protects us from the elements, and many lifestyle choices can affect its longevity.

This is one reason why we sell skin analysis equipment to medical professionals and cosmetologists all over the country — skin analyzer machines can reveal valuable insights that are invisible to the naked eye, allowing professionals to create custom-tailored skin treatment plans to their patients. But there are some things that skin analysis machines don’t tell us. Here are some fun facts about skin that might surprise you!

Your Skin Weighs Anywhere Between 20 and 40 Pounds

As it turns out, your skin is pretty heavy. Being the largest organ in (or on) our body, the skin takes up a sizeable amount of mass. It should be obvious that skin carries some significant poundage, but it’s something that most people don’t really think about. Skin accounts for about 15% of one’s body weight, which places its total weight between 20-40 pounds for the average person. 

There Are Special Cells That Keep Tattoos In Their Place

One fairly well-known fact about skin is that it regenerates itself on a regular basis. In just 28-30 days, you might be wearing an entirely new layer of skin from the one you had last month. That begs an interesting question: why don’t tattoos disappear? As it turns out, there are special cells called macrophages that hold the pigment. In the tattoo process, macrophages appear as an immune response to the intrusive needle. They absorb the pigment, and then pass it on to new macrophages, effectively keeping the tattoo in place.

Your Skin Is Thick In Some Areas and Thin In Others

Skin grows in varying thickness depending on the region of the body. For areas that experience more wear-and-tear, the skin grows thicker, while it’s generally thin in low-impact areas. It makes sense, then, that human skin is thickest on the feet — it’s gotta be tough down there when we’re walking on it all day! Meanwhile, skin is thinnest at the eyelids, likely because of how flexible it needs to be on a day-to-day basis. 

Fingerprints Have a Unique Purpose

Did you know that fingerprints reduce friction, helping us to grip objects? It’s a small assist that we don’t really notice, because we don’t know what it’s like to live without them. But, like everything else in the human body, even the smallest things exist for a reason. That also explains why we don’t have “prints” all over our body — they exist primarily on our hands because that’s what we use to grab things. Another fun little fact: some monkey species have prints on their tails for this very same reason.

Skin Prevents Us From Overheating

Wanna know something that will blow your mind? Humans are capable of out-enduring almost every single animal in long-distance travel. Believe it or not, if a human and a horse were to race across the continental US, the human would win. Why? Because skin prevents us from overheating, giving us tremendous amounts of endurance in hot weather. Because we sweat, we get a continual supply of moisture, allowing us to go on and on, even if it’s at a slow pace. Most animals can outrun humans by a country mile, but they have to take long resting periods to recover. So remember folks, drink your water! If you don’t, this handy little evolutionary advantage won’t do you much good.

Skin Is Filled With Bacteria and Oils

There is a lot happening on our skin that the naked eye simply cannot see. In fact, millions of microscopic organisms are camping on your skin at any given moment. Furthermore, the skin is also full of countless pores that secrete oils and sweat, oils which quite often aren’t noticeable to sight or touch. And, for better or for worse, these things have a huge impact on our skin’s health. Once pores start getting clogged and the “wrong” bacteria come in, things can get bad. This is a huge reason why skin analysis appointments are so important!

With skin analyzer machines from Progen|Probe, you can look at the skin at a highly magnified level, being able to observe things that are invisible to the naked eye. Through this process, various skin problems can be diagnosed. Are you looking for a skin analysis machine for your practice? Browse our selection today and contact us if you have any questions!