The skin is the outer vertebrates guarding and protecting the underlying muscles, internal organs, ligaments, and bones. Different body locations have different skin layers which support diverse appendages and subsequent functioning. The hand skin aids in preventing the inner body against harm and regulating body temperatures. Therefore, the hand’s skin contains the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous tissue, including different appendages adapted to their roles.
Notably, the epidermis is the superficial layer of the human hand. According to Metral et al. (2017), the epidermis is a thin coat of the skin. The hand epidermis helps in detecting touch sensations and protecting the body against microorganisms and external harm. In terms of adaptability, the hand skin has melanocyte cells preventing the skin from harmful UV radiation. Moreover, the epidermis’s thinness augments quick detection of touch, enhancing response.
Additionally, the dermis forms a part of the hand skin. Cole et al. (2018) opine that the dermis contains blood vessels which enhance skin nourishment. The dermis aids in thermoregulation apart from protecting the deeper layers. The dermis is adapted to its function through its ability to distribute blood, hence, consuming the harmful impurities or toxins, including bacteria. The dermis contains phagocyte cells consuming the toxins within the skin (Cole et al., 2018). Connectedly, the ability of the dermis to habiting the blood vessels makes it adaptable to its functioning.
Besides, the subcutaneous tissue is the other hand skin layer which plays a critical role in maintaining body temperature and absorbing shock. Herlin et al. (2015) allude that the subcutaneous tissue contains the nerves and blood vessels. Adaptatively, the subcutaneous film contains fat layers which aid in moderating the body temperature. Correspondingly, the fat layers within the subcutaneous sheet help absorb physical shock to internal organs, bones, and muscles (Herlin et al., 2015). Therefore, the subcutaneous layer is adapted to its functioning of maintaining body temperature and absorbing shock through the fat layers.
Distinctively, skin on the hand contains the eccrine sweat glands. According to Cole et al. (2018), the eccrine sweat secretors aid in thermoregulation. The eccrine secreters are adapted to their function, considering that they excrete sweat from the skin when the internal temperatures are high. Excreting sweat is the primary form of enhancing thermoregulation as it maintains the internal temperature moderate. In addition, when the external temperatures are high, the eccrine glands release sweat to cool the skin. Thus, the skin contains the eccrine sweat glands that keep the body at moderate temperatures.
Moreover, the pilosebaceous apparatus is the other appendages present in the skin of the hand. As Marvdashti et al. (2016) mention, the pilosebaceous apparatus contains the hair follicles, erector pili muscles, and the sebaceous gland. It is adapted to maintaining optimal body temperature by enhancing the reaction of the hand hairs as per the environmental temperatures. The arrector pili muscles contract at once, making the skin air to ‘stand’ and vice versa. Holistically, the pilosebaceous apparatus is adapted to maintaining body temperature by dictating the state of the hair on the skin.
Furthermore, the hand joints are the radiocarpal and carpometacarpal. The Arthritis Foundation (2020) highlights that the radiocarpal joint connects the radius and the carpus in the wrist. Within the wrist, there are the carpal bones, the midcarpal joint, and the intercarpal articulations. First, the radiocarpal joint allows for proper hand movement, including extension and flexion of the wrist. Second, the carpometacarpal joint connects the carpal bones to the metacarpal bones at the intermetacarpal articulations (Arthritis Foundation, 2020). The radiocarpal joint, the carpometacarpal joint allows for motion in adduction, abduction itself, and extension. Together, the carpometacarpal joint arrangements allow the movement of the thumb, such as retro-pulsion and opposition.
Conclusively, the hand skin contains the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous layers adapted to their functioning. The hand skin equally contains appendages, including eccrine sweat glands and the pilosebaceous apparatus, which are equally modified to their roles. The hand contains the radiocarpal and carpometacarpal joints which aid in hand movement. Thus, understanding the human hand’s anatomy is excellent as it develops people’s knowledge regarding the human body.
References
Arthritis Foundation. (2020). Hand and wrist anatomy. Web.
Cole, M. A., Quan, T., Voorhees, J. J., & Fisher, G. J. (2018). Extracellular matrix regulation of fibroblast function: Redefining our perspective on skin aging. Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling, 12(1), 35-43.
Herlin, C., Chica-Rosa, A., Subsol, G., Gilles, B., Macri, F., Beregi, J. P., & Captier, G. (2015). Three-dimensional study of the skin/subcutaneous complex using in vivo whole-body 3T MRI: A review of the literature and confirm a generic organization pattern. Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, 37(7), 731-741. Web.
Marvdashti, T., Duan, L., Aasi, S. Z., Tang, J. Y., & Bowden, A. K. E. (2016). Classification of basal cell carcinoma in human skin using machine learning and quantitative features captured by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. Biomedical Optics Express, 7(9), 3721-3735.
Metral, E., Bechetoille, N., Demarne, F., Rachidi, W., & Damour, O. (2017). α6 integrin (α6high)/Transferrin receptor (CD71) low keratinocyte stem cells are more potent for generating reconstructed skin epidermis than rapid adherent cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 18(2), 282. Web.