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Feedy healthy massage6/19/2023 ![]() ![]() For relaxation and circulatory approaches, sufficient lubrication to glide easily over the skin is wanted. Some forms of massage, such as ayurvedic massage, apply copious amounts of oil, while others, like deep-tissue massage, use only enough to protect the skin. 4 Here, I want to look at the use of massage oils and their impact.įor a great number of massage therapists, oils and lotions are the medium of the profession, functioning to reduce friction between the client’s skin and the therapist’s hands or forearms. 3 In a previous article, I discussed this in relation to therapeutic baths. There are so many important aspects and functions of the skin, but here I am focusing on the skin as a semi-permeable barrier through which substances enter, and have effect on, the body. 2 This, along with enhanced circulation, energetic balance, and the fact of being relaxed, all contribute to that characteristic glow we see following a massage. Massage with light friction stimulates the sebaceous glands, causing an increase in sebum production that improves the condition, texture, and tone of the skin. An excess of sebum, triggered by hormones or disease, can produce an oily skin, whereas an underproduction, caused by nutritional factors or exposure to UV radiation, may make skin dry. In addition to lubricating both the hair and the epidermis, sebum provides a protective layer that is mildly antibacterial and antifungal, conditions the skin, and prevents excess evaporation of water. ![]() There are no sebaceous glands in the palms and soles. In hairless areas of the body - the lips, glans penis, and labia minora - sebaceous glands discharge directly onto the skin. Normally, a thin coating of sebum lubricates and protects the hair and is responsible for the hair’s flexibility and shine. There is a sebaceous gland for every hair on the body. Sebum, a mixture of fats, cholesterol, proteins, and electrolytes, is secreted through the ducts of the sebaceous glands, which are in the dermis near hair follicles. It helps to cushion and insulate the body, is a source of fuel, and serves to store fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. The subcutaneous layer is comprised largely of adipose, or fatty, tissue attached to the dermis. The dermis accounts for more than 90 percent of the skin’s mass and provides most of its physical strength. Macromolecules, called proteroglycans, act to maintain water balance in the skin. Embedded within the dermis are blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, nerve endings, hair follicles, and sweat glands. Reticulum fibers interconnect the collagen bundles. Elastin fibers are responsible for giving the skin its elasticity and resilience. This middle layer is made of connective tissue, a semisolid mixture of fibrous proteins (collagen, reticulum, and elastin), water, and a gel called “ground substance.” Collagen is the main component of connective tissue and constitutes nearly 70 percent of the dry weight of the dermis. ![]() The thickness of the whole epidermis, with its four or five layers, is less than the width of a hair.ĭirectly beneath and connected to the epidermis is the dermis (or corium). The lifespan of an epidermal cell is 21 to 27 days. These dead cells are constantly being sloughed off and the epidermis is continuously renewing itself. As these older cells get farther away from the nourishment of the dermis, they starve and die. Those epithelial cells closest to the dermis thrive and multiply, with new cells pushing away the older cells. This surface layer of the skin has no blood vessels, and its cells must derive oxygen and nutrients by diffusion of tissue fluids from the underlying dermal layer. The epidermis also contains pores, openings for hair, and specialized glands. The epidermis is the outer segment, containing many sheet-like layers of tissue and melanocytes - the cells that give color to the skin. Skin is the largest organ of the body and is comprised of three layers. Integument means “covering” or “skin.” This system consists of the skin and its appendages - sebaceous (oil) glands, sudoriferous (sweat) glands, hair, and nails. Skin is what massage therapists most directly contact, and it is important to realize our impact both on it and the whole person. This integumentary system protects, contains, feels, communicates, absorbs, digests, filters, secretes, excretes, heats, cools, and breathes. It is a complex physiological system that affects every other system in the body. But skin is not just a surface envelope for the really important functions within. Massage training typically gives considerably more focus to learning about muscles and bones than it does to the skin.
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