How Thick Are The Layers Of Skin

Beefcake of the Peel

Epidermis

The epidermis is the almost superficial layer of the pare and provides the get-go barrier of protection from the invasion of substances into the body.

The epidermis is subdivided into v layers or strata:

stratum basale
stratum spinosum
stratum granulosum
stratum lucidum
stratum corneum

Keratizination

The principal cells of the epidermis are keratinocytes. The basal cells or "stem cells" of the epidermis are undifferentiated, proliferating cells that drift upwards through all the five layers in a procedure known every bit keratinization. It takes most 30 days for the cells to migrate from the basal layer to cross the stratum corneum where they are finally shed.

Thickness

Epidermis varies in thickness throughout the body depending mainly on frictional forces and is thickest on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and thinnest in the face up (eyelids) and genitalia.

Dermis and Subcutaneous Fat

The dermis is a tough but elastic support structure that houses nerves, blood vessels, lymphatics, and cutaneous appendages (pilosebaceous units, eccrine and apocrine sweat glands).

It is thicker (averages ane to 4 mm) than the epidermis which is near every bit thin as piece of paper. The dermis varies in thickness. It is very thick on the dorsum (almost 1 cm); information technology is very sparse on the eyelid.

The dermis has 2 main zones, the papillary dermis and the reticular dermis.

The subcutaneous fat is an important layer and plays a role in daze assimilation, energy storage, and maintenance of trunk heat.

Other cellular components of the epidermis

Melanocytes are dendritic, pigment-producing cells located in the basal layer. The pigment they industry is called melanin.

Langerhans cells are dendritic cells derived from the bone marrow in the stratum spinosum that have an immunologic function. They are identical to tissue macrophages and present antigens to lymphocytes.