The Skin

The Skin Structure

The skin is made up of three layers:

Ø  The Epidermis

Ø  The Dermis

Ø  The Hypodermis

The Skin, Epidermis and Dermis

The Skin is the largest organ of the body. It’s about 1mm thick on your eyelids, 3mm thick on the palms of your hands and about 2mm thick in most other areas of your body. It forms a protective barrier against bacterial invasion and injuries from the environment and helps prevent substance entering our body, regulates our body temperature and shields our body from the sun’s harmful effect.

Our skin has limited capacity for absorption which is why our plasma technology is so effective since only water and gas can easily pass through the skin and our device creates a gas by design.

We also target the epidermis (the upper/outer layer of our skin) The epidermis can continuously regenerate new cells.

The Dermis below gives the skin its strength, shape, laxity and flexibility and contains the collagen bundles, blood vessels and “fibroblasts”. The dermis is composed of about 95% collagen.

The Epidermis

     The epidermis is the outer Layer of Skin, the epidermis is the thinnest layer in your skin, but it’s responsible for protecting you from the harsh environment. The epidermis has four layers of its own: stratum germinativum, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum, and stratum lucidum. The epidermis also hosts different types of cells: keratinocytes, melanocytes and Langerhans cells. Keratinocytes produce the protein known as keratin, the main component of the epidermis. Melanocytes produce your skin pigment, known as melanin. Langerhans cells prevent foreign substances from getting into your skin.

The Stratum Corneum: The outermost and thickest layer consisting of 18-23 layers of dry flat cells and prevents entry of the most foreign substances and the soles of the feet

The Stratum Lucidum: Only present on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet

The Stratum Granulosum: Cells here lose a considerable amount of lipids and moisture

The Stratum Spinosum: This layer is several cells thick and flattens out as it rises upwards. Its is called the ‘Spiny’ or ‘Prickle Cell’ layer

The stratum Germinativum or Basal Cell Layer: The deepest layer of the epidermis and the layer where cells divide, and melanin is produced. Skin colour is primarily due to melanin

The Dermis

Ø  The Dermis gives the skin its strength and flexibility and is made up of the two layers: the papillary layer and the reticular layer

Ø  The dermis contains the collagen bundles, blood vessels, fibroblasts, hair follicles, lymph glands, sweat glands and nerve endings

Ø  The dermis is composed of approximately 95% collagen and is about 35 times thicker than the epidermis. It gives the skin its strength, shape and laxity and flexibility

Ø  The subcutaneous layer of tissue below the dermis is made up of a network of fat cells and collagen bundles. It is also where the larger blood vessels and nerves are found. The depth of this layer varies from person to person.