Integumentary System IV
Continuing from where I left off. This section is quite longer than any of my first posts because the skin is a very important section of the anatomy on the human body to massage therapist. It has many pathologies that affect how and when we work on a patient. Continuing from where I left off on the last section.
Pigment gives the skin its color and is found only in the epidermal layer of the skin. Melanin is the type of pigment that gives the skin it’s brown coloring. The cells that produce this brown coloring are called melanocytes. The primary function of melanin is the protection from Ultraviolet(UV) radiation from sunlight. Cynanosis is the condition when the skin turns bluish gray due to the lack of oxygen from low blood circulation.
The layer where the epidermal and dermal layers meet is called the dermial-epiderminal junction. The thick layer of the skin is called the dermal layer, which is composed mostly of connective tissue. The cells of the dermal layer are scattered apart and have tough and strong fibers between the cells of the dermis called collagen. The strechable fibers between the cells of the dermis layer are called collagen.
The parallel rows of tiny bumps found in the upper region of the dermis are called dermal papillae, these structures bind the skin layers together and form ridges and grooves that make up our finger prints and footprints.
