The top of your skin is covered with dead cells, and you’re always getting rid of them. Get this: You shed 30,000 to 40,000 cells a day! That’s nearly 9 pounds of skin cells a year.
Don’t worry, though. Your body is always making new skin cells to replace the old ones.
Carrots have a lot of beta-carotene, which gives them their color. The orange skin thing sometimes happens to babies -- carrots are a favorite first food -- and people who juice carrots.
Once it's gone -- prune fingers! Your skin soaks up some water and gives you those ridges.
So what’s the point of the wrinkles, you ask? Experts think it’s your body’s way of helping you. It’s easier to pick up wet things and less slippery with wrinkly fingers. They give you a little traction and grip.
Stretched out flat, the skin of a grown, 150-pound man would weigh about 9 pounds and cover about a 6-foot by 6-foot area. Your skin has three layers and a lot of jobs.
It protects your muscles, bones, nerves, and everything else that’s inside your body. It also helps you stay warm or cool. Every inch of your skin has hundreds of sweat and oil glands, nerve endings, and blood vessels.
Dark red is a healthy newborn’s skin or it could be purple. That’s normal. As he gets more air into his lungs, the redness will go away. The final color of a baby’s skin depends on a lot of things, including his race, age, and health.
If you have darker skin, your body makes more pigment than people who have lighter skin. That pigment is called melanin. It helps protect your skin from the sun. But more melanin doesn’t mean you’re safe. Even people with darker skin can sunburn and get skin cancer. It’s important to wear sunscreen.
The thickest skin is on the soles of your feet. On most parts of your body, your skin is about as thick as a piece of paper.
Your dead skin can help with air pollution. A lot of the flakes of skin that you shed every day become dust in your home. But there may be a bright side. One study found that those skin cells may help lower indoor air pollution. Their oil appears to help get rid of ozone.
When you’re cold or scared, these tiny bumps appear on your skin.
They’re called goosebumps because when you get them, your skin kind of looks like the skin of a plucked chicken or goose.
They happen because muscles attached to your hair get tight. They pull on your skin and make your hair stand up. Experts believe this is one way your body warms you up.
You've got skin tags. Should you not be worried. These small, raised bumps that hang off the skin are harmless. They show up on places where skin rubs against clothing or on body folds, like your armpits. You can also get them on your eyelids.
Your doctor can take them off if they bother you or get snagged on clothes and jewelry. Sometimes they fall off on their own.
Chocolate and greasy foods like french fries don’t cause zits for most people. And neither do stress or dirty skin. What does? Hormone changes, some kinds of medicines, and makeup all can play a role.
Feel like you should have left blemishes behind in your teen years? Take heart. It’s not uncommon for people in their 40s and 50s to get pimples, too.
Your skin is usually pretty elastic. But when it gets pulled too much, these red or purple scars can appear.
Stretch marks can happen if you grow or gain weight quickly and your skin needs to make room. They’re pretty common in pregnant women and kids going through puberty. You can’t get rid of them, but they usually fade over time.
