Did you know that your skin is your largest organ and plays a vital role in your health? Important jobs of the skin include detecting heat and cold, regulating body temperature and protecting muscles, bones and internal organs from outside infection and disease. But that’s not all – there is so much more to your skin than you might think! Here are some of the most interesting facts about your skin: 

• Skin accounts for about 15% of your body weight.
• The average adult has approximately 21 square feet of skin which weighs about 9 lbs. and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels.
• The average person has about 300 million skin cells. A single square inch of skin has 19 million cells and up to 300 sweat glands.
• Your skin is its thickest on your feet (1.4mm) and thinnest on your eyelids (0.2mm).
• The skin renews itself every 28 days.
• Your skin constantly sheds dead cells, 30,000 to 40,000 cells every minute! That’s nearly 9 lbs. per year!
• Dead skin comprises about a billion tons of dust in the earth’s atmosphere.
• Your skin is home to more than 1,000 species of bacteria.
• Skin that is severely damaged may try to heal itself by forming scar tissue which is different from normal skin tissue because it lacks hair and sweat glands.
• Skin can form additional thickness and toughness — a callus — if exposed to repeated friction or pressure.
• Some of the nerves in your skin are connected to muscles instead of the brain, sending signals (through the spinal cord) to react more quickly to heat, pain, etc.
• Your skin has at least five types of receptors that respond to pain and touch.
• Changes in your skin can sometimes signal changes in your overall health.

These fun skin facts reveal just some of the important aspects of your skin and its health. To learn more facts about your skin or to schedule an appointment with dermatologist Dr. Holy in Phoenix, contact THE CENTER for Advanced Dermatology at 602-867-7546 or website.