Skin Health

What is good for your health is often good for your skin

Ways to keep your skin healthy

1. Eat a well balanced diet.

-lack of nutrients can cause skin disorders

-getting more than the recommend daily allowance of vitamins and minerals can also cause skin problems (too much vitamin A dries the skin, niacin can cause itching, vitamin E can cause acne)

2. Avoid foods you are sensitive too.

- Hives, eczema and dermatitis are often linked to food

allergies

-Most problematic foods are eggs, nuts, beans, chocolate, strawberries, tomatoes, citrus fruit, corn, pork and cow’s milk

3. Reduce stress

-stress can worsen preexisting skin problems especially herpes, acne, eczema, hives, psoriasis and warts

4. Don’t smoke-smoking causes premature aging of the skin

-long time smokers can look 10 times older than non-smokers of the same age

5. Exercise

-Exercise increases blood flow bringing nutrients and oxygen to the skin and getting rid of wastes

-Exercise may thicken skin and thicker skin ages more gracefully

6. Protect your skin from the sun.

-prevents premature aging

-prevents skin cancer

Wounds to the Skin

Hands of a gymnast

Skin Injury

External factors can damage the skin

• heat, chemicals and UV radiation

• sharp objects

• excessive rubbing or pressure

Heat Injuries

• What is a burn?

• A burn is an injury that damages and destroys skin layers.

• It can be caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, radiation or frostbite.

Level of Burn Injury

• First Degree• A first degree burn is limited to

the epidermis. It is characterized by heat, pain, moistening and reddening of the burned surface, but rarely shows blistering or charring of tissue. First degree burns often heal in three to seven days and seldom scar. Typical first degree burns include sunburn and minor scalds.

• Second Degree• Sometimes referred to as partial

thickness burns, second degree burns are characterized as either "superficial" or "deep." Both types penetrate deeper than a first degree burn and destroy the epidermal layers, extending into the dermis layer. They can cause damage to sweat glands and hair follicles and are extremely painful, often with intense swelling.

• Skin that has incurred a superficial second degree burn is moist, red and weepy. Most superficial second degree burns heal in 10 to 21 days, but leave a change in skin color and pigmentation.

• Third Degree• A third degree burn-also

known as a full thickness burn-destroys all the epidermal and dermal skin layers. The tissue damage extends below hair follicles and sweat glands to subcutaneous tissue. With this degree of burn, the skin becomes charred and leathery and often appears depressed relative to surrounding tissue. The skin can be bright red, waxy white, tan or brown; there are no blisters; and third degree burns may cause massive swelling. Perhaps surprisingly, third degree burns are usually not painful because the injury has destroyed nerve endings. Skin grafting or other replacement options are required for treatment of a third degree burn.

How to treat a burn

Minor

1. Cool the burn. Do not use ice.

2. Bandage the area.

3. Take a pain reliever

Do not apply ointment. Do not break blisters.

Major

1.Call 911

2.Leave burned clothing on.

3.Do not immerse in cold water.

4.Check for signs of circulation.

Watch “National Geographic”The skin gun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXO_ApjKPaI

Describe the new method of skin replacement.

Sharp Objects and Excessive Rubbing or Pressure

Puncture Wound• A puncture wound

is caused by an object piercing the skin and creating a small hole.

• A puncture wound does not usually result in excessive bleeding so treatment may be necessary to prevent infection. A puncture wound from a cause such as stepping on a nail can become infected because the object that caused the wound may carry bacteria or spores of tetanus into the skin and tissue.

CutsCuts are open wounds through the skin and blood vessels caused by a forceful injury. Cuts can be caused by:•Blunt objects that tear or crush the skin (lacerations). •Sharp-edged objects pressing into and slicing the skin tissue (incised wounds). •A combination of blunt and sharp forces from objects that tear, crush, and slice the skin tissue.

Abrasions

• Abrasions are common skin injuries usually caused by falling on a hard surface. As you fall and slide on the ground friction causes layers of skin to rub off.

First Aid

Wound Healing

Step 1- Injury Blood elements are released from locally damaged blood vessels within the (epidermis/ dermis).

(Red / White )blood cells, platelets and plasma proteins infiltrate the wound.

Vasoconstriction follows.

Within seconds blood begins to (clot / flow).

Step 2- Coagulation • Several hours later a loose clot has formed because of the (platelets / dirt).

• Fibroblasts have migrated into the area and begin to produce (collagen fibers / adipose tissue).

Step 3- Early inflammation

• At 24 hours, • Platelets attract a

type of white blood cell called a neurtrophil to the wound, signaling the beginning of inflammation.

(a state of heat, redness and swelling)

Step 4- Late inflammation • After 48 hrs.• (Macrophages /

red blood cells) are the principal inflammatory cell.

• Together, neutrophils and macrophages remove debris from the wound.

• Clot hardens and forms a (scab / blister).

Step 5- Proliferation • The proliferation phase begins at about 72 hours.

• Epidermal and (dermal/subcutaneous) cells multiply beneath the scab.

Step 6- Remodeling • Takes 3 weeks to several months.

• Collagen synthesis slows down after three weeks, collagen crosslinking and reorganization occur for months after injury in the remodeling phase of repair