Your skin is pretty remarkable. Not only is it our largest organ, but it also protects us against germs, keeps us safe by allowing us to sense temperature and pain and also regulates our wider body temperature. We don’t often think about just how hard our skin is working to keep us well, except when things go wrong.
In order to understand just what an important function our skin has, we need to understand what it actually is.
Our skin consists of three layers, top, middle and bottom; the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis protects us from environmental challenges like the sun and rain, it makes new skin cells, provides us with our skin colour and forms part of our immune system. The dermis contains elastin which keeps our skin flexible, makes oil to keep it smooth and produces sweat which evaporates to keep us cool. The hypodermis contains fat which protects muscles and bone from injury and connects them all together.
Summer is a particularly stressful and challenging time for our skin and we can be prone to specific summer skin conditions. Sometimes we may even need to see a medical professional for our skin problem, so if you are not sure or need advice, ask for it.
What are some of the common medical summer skin conditions, and what can we do to help our skin and reduce the chances of those problems developing?
