THE STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN

B A

C D

Structure Function / Description

A Pain receptor • Sensitive to pain
• Lie very close to the skin surfacent o detect the
slightest pain

B Touch receptor • Sensitive to stimulus of touch

• Help blind people to identify letters and read
‘Braille’ using their fingertips

C Heat receptor • Sensitive to heat and any rise in temperature

D Cold receptor • Sensitive to cold and any fall in temperature

E Pressure receptor • Sensitive to deep pressure rather than light touch

• Lie in the lower skin layers
 Functions of the Skin

Te m p e r a t u r e c o n t r o l

Alteration of the rates of blood flow in the skin and sweating helps maintain our skin and
body temperature. The skin's blood vessels, sweat glands, body hair play a crucial role in
regulating body temperature. When the body needs to cool down, the blood vessels will
widen to allow more blood to circulate to the skin and let heat escape. The sweat glands are
activated, producing sweat which goes to the surface of the skin through pores and hair
follicles, evaporate and cool down the body. Body hair will lie flat so that warm air does not
get trapped between your skin and your hairs. Body temperature is controlled in part by heat
loss through the skin and by sweating.On the other hand, when you need to retain heat, the
opposite happens: your blood vessels narrow, you produce less sweat and your hairs stand
up on end to trap warm air around your body.

The sensory organ of touch

Besides the senses of smell, taste, sight and hearing the sense of touch is one of our body's
most important senses. Without it, we would not be able to feel the gentle touch of a dear
person, the warmth of a hot cup of tea, or the wind blowing in our face. Through the
specialized nerve endings in the skin, the body is able to perceive various sensations
evoked by external agents

The dermis is filled with many tiny nerve endings which give you information about the things
with which your body comes in contact. They do this by carrying the information to the spinal
cord, which sends messages to the brain where the feeling is registered. There are about
100 touch receptors in each of your fingertips. The most sensitive areas of your body are
your hands, lips, face, neck, tongue, fingertips and feet. The least sensitive part is the middle
of your back.

Elimination of wastes

Small amounts of certain waste products, such as water and salt, are removed from the
body by excretion through the surface of the skin. Most people eliminate nearly a kilogram of
waste per day through the skin - mostly water, but also toxic waste materials, salts, and
urea. This function is very important to the body, so much so that when more than 20% of
the skin is damaged, like in burn victims, the resulting accumulation of toxic wastes in the
body could be fatal.

Vitamin D synthesis

Vitamin D, calciferol, is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is found in food, but can also be made by
the body after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. When ultraviolet radiation strikes
the skin a cholesterol derivative is converted into vitamin D. Vitamin D is converted in the
kidneys into calcitriol which acts on the intestinal cells to promote the absorption of
calcium from the diet.