When we talk of organs what strikes our mind is the heart, kidney, and liver. The largest organ of our body is the most superficial, most exposed to internal as well as external environment. Can you guess it? It is our skin! Our skin is the largest organ of our body. Skin is the most superficial and largest organ of our body. Having good skin, good appearance and tone are what matters to all. Isn’t it? We look out for ways to protect our largest organ skin in superficial ways. Many not only want to look good but they also have their sentiments attached to the color, tone, tightening of the skin. What people must be thinking about them! How can skin get people to judge nature but not their behavior? How confident their skin looks! How skin can make a person feel confident and not their skills and experience?
Skin is an important organ. The commercial, marketing industry, and society attribute its importance only confined to appearance. It is important to identify every sign and symptom over the skin to find what is going out within. This article tells you about how to protect your largest organ skin, the function of the skin. It also briefs about the concepts of homeopathy treatment of skin diseases.
Can you protect your largest organ?
Are we really aware of our body and its higher function? How enriching our mind and body can help us live healthily? Nowadays living a life without a medication and doctor’s visit is like a dream of many. Our body is an instrument with a complex but admirable function and structure. How well do we know our body function and structure? To have such a huge complex body and been unaware of its ability, does not make you curious? It will make you curious and will surprise you too. As you come to know about the healthy functioning of the skin. Let us first understand the functions of the skin. Also, know more about what do each sign and symptoms of skin tells.
Anatomy and function of the skin- Protect your largest Organ
Our skin has various layers-
Epidermis– It is the most outer layer of the covering of the human body. It protects from all the types of noxious influences from outside the body. There are melanocytes that determine the colour of the skin.
Dermis– Dermis is the layer that consist of the glands i.e. sebaceous and sweat glands. It also has hair follicles, layer of fats and connective tissue.
Hypodermis– Hypodermis is the deeper subcutaneous connective tissue and also has deeper layer of fats.
Functions of Skin
Protection- Skin protect us from all the harmful pollutants, chemicals, and all infectious microbes. Every cell of the human body gets it’s nutrition from what we eat and how we live. Skin will protect us, only if a person protect the organ skin by taking care of his health.
Heat regulation- Skin adapts during times of change in the environment. It is constantly working to regulate our temperature of the body. During times of cold weather, the peripheral blood is directed to the important organ. In the summers, the blood circulation is more to the periphery so that heat can be released.
Excretion of waste- The body produces by-products that are generated by various life cycles like the Kreb cycle, urea cycle, glucose metabolism pathway. It is necessary to eliminate these by-products, our skin excretes them in the form of sweat.
Secretion from glands- Skin has sebaceous glands, these glands protect and moisture our skin. It is present beside the hair follicles. It prevents dryness during the winters or summers.
Barrier- Skin has millions of microbial organisms that are normally present in the skin. These are called normal flora of the skin. These microbes function to prevent infection by other infectious microorganisms. These microorganisms cannot be washed away with how much ever efforts. Nothing can penetrate our healthy skin
Sensations- There are many sensory nerve ending in our skin. These nerve ending can sense pressure, vibration, pain, touch, temperature, itching.
How do you protect your largest organ skin?
Skin is like any other body organ it is the extensive and the largest organ of the body. Our skin reflects our health and well-being. As we go through its function and structure we understand that healthy skin can be maintained by a healthy lifestyle and habits. Overall health defines the health status of the skin. There are ways you can protect your organ skin–
- Proper hydration,
- Having fruits,
- Having vegetables,
- Washing face after you come home from outdoor,
- Least experimentation with the skin,
- Avoid application of chemical products,
- Avoid products that change skin pH,
- Least exposure to radiation,
- If you notice any changes in your skin, do not try suppressing it with heterogeneous methods. Any organ disturbance is due to shifting at both the mental and physical levels. Suppressing skin conditions can mislead the follow-up and also lead to more serious chronic disease. For example- an allergy of skin treated with anti-allergic for a long time results in Asthma.
Homeopathy- Literature on Skin Conditions
Dr. Hahnemann in his book Organon of Medicine, 6th edition writes about symptoms that present on the skin. And also about various skin diseases.
Dr. Hahnemann writes in aphorism 185- There are skin conditions, which he calls so-called local diseases the term applied to those complaints that appear on the skin or most external part of the body. He says that skin diseases are treated as parts that are alone diseased and as if the rest of the body is not involved in the disease process. This idea has lead to the most disastrous medical treatment of skin diseases.
Skin complaints due to external injury-
Those so-called local diseases on the skin which are produced a short time previously due to external damage, at first sight, it appears to deserve the name of local disease provided it is trivial and would be of no great importance. But injuries to the body from outside, if at all it is severe the whole organism supports by showing symptoms of pain, fever, etc. Few conditions require mechanical correction (surgery) like fracture, foreign body in parts, accumulation of the fluid, ruptured arteries, evacuation of the effusions or collections of the fluid, etc. In such conditions, our body often requires the active force or aid which helps to stimulate change and progress within the system to accomplish the work of healing.
Example– If there is high-grade fever in a person having extensive contusions, laceration of muscles, tendons, and blood vessels he requires medicine to subdue the inflammation. When a person has scalds and burns and has uncontrollable pain he requires medicine to subdue his pain. This is the time when homeopathy is useful to control inflammation or pain without harm.
Skin complaints due to internal disease or not due to external injury-
Those conditions, changes, and ailments that show symptoms on the skin which are not due to external injury or that which have slight external wound due to some immediate exciting cause are due to internal disease eg. Psoriasis, Lichen planus, fungal infections, pemphigus, etc. To consider skin affection as just like a local condition only and treat it with the local application is absurd and pernicious in its result. The skin conditions are considered to be topical therefore called as local disease as if the whole body is not affected or the person’s rest other parts knew nothing about it. Person’s all the parts are connected to each other in sensation and functions. Any eruption or pigmentation cannot occur without internal ill-health.
If there is any wound or disease of the skin, they won’t arise, persist or get worse without any constant diseases or chronic diseases in the body like anemia, high blood sugar, deficiencies, etc. Skin symptoms of the diseases like eruptions, discoloration, pigmentations, depigmentations are not solely the suffering of the skin without any association with the rest body. It is impossible to get an eruption without the means of a whole diseased human being, so closely are the parts of the body are connected in sensations and functions.
Thus, diseases on the skin due to little or no external injury for eg. acute cellulitis, erysipelas, viral or venereal warts, lichen planus, must be treated by medicine for the person as a whole and not by topical application. This can be understood in cases when a patient comes with the complaint of atopic dermatitis, on giving him homeopathic medicine after case history considering all the symptoms of the physical and mental aspect, there is improvement in both general health and dermatitis. Even in cases that appear on the skin like abscesses, lichen planus, viral warts are cured with the medicine given orally for holistic recovery, provided the medicine given based on the state of a person is chosen with a homeopathic sense.
Dr. Hahnemann writes that in the investigation of the case physician should note the following–
- The exact character of the skin symptoms and signs,
- the changes that are seen,
- suffering and symptoms observed in person’s health,
- symptoms that were present previously when no medicines had been given.
This information should be taken in conjunction (those occurring at the same time) to form a complete picture of the disease. Then search among the medicines whose pathogenetic effects are known, the remedy analogous/similar to the totality of symptoms. This remedy given internally helps in removing the general state of disease conditions as well as the local skin complaint, which reveals that both are connected. For eg., a patient having acne in case of PCOS gets cured without the local application as the doctor treats PCOS. This conveys that skin condition was associated with internal disturbance.
In case of acute conditions like leprosy or erysipelas which are not due to external injury applying topical application will not cure. It yields results with homeopathy medicines which are selected on the basis of the pathogenesis within and symptoms of the skin. If these complaints do not yield completely to the medicine and recovery is at a halt even after the good regimen; remains of disease which person’s immunity is not able to restore to a normal state, then the acute disease is a product of an infective miasm and is developing into a chronic disease. To have an effective cure in such cases after the acute condition has subsided, medicine/similimum indicated for the previous diseased state of health and the remains of the acute complaint should be given.
External applications–
It seems that giving medicine internally and applying it will fasten the recovery, but it is not true. It is not valid in the case of skin diseases that are due to contamination or infection which is sexually transmitted. Applying topical will fade the chief symptoms of skin, there remain only undefined, vague symptoms that are less constant and less persistent, and not sufficient to describe a picture of the disease.
If the skin outgrowth is destroyed by corrosive or desiccative external remedy or by knife the case becomes difficult. The chief symptom of the person is destroyed so it becomes indefinite. There remain inconstant symptoms the external principal symptom is removed. If the outgrowth is present it conveys to us that the cure is not yet completed. If the outgrowth is destroyed by treatment then the disease is completely eradicated. (In my experience is an example of a case of 13 painful corns on feet, which worsened on removing 1 corn surgically. The wound was necrotizing, which was prevented by oral homeopathic medicine)
When there is any chronic disease witnessed in the patient which it is unable to overcome by itself, by its own power of immunity there is a development of skin symptoms. Indicating that skin is the lesser chief organ than other for human life. It will still a chronic complaint that is threatening the person’s important organs. (Scroll down for a research article) The skin complaint will silence the chronic disease, without being able either to cure it or diminish it materially. Old school practitioners would make artificial ulcers on the external parts to silence the chronic disease for short time. It would help only till the part is painful and irritable as the person feels it because of an artificial method of producing it. It would more weaken the general health of the person than most skin complaints produced by a person’s own body mechanism.
The skin complaint is nothing else than a part of general health, but part of it is increased all in one direction by the natural inner self of the person. It is directed to the skin, to prevent damage to the important organs of the body. The inner disease will continue to progress despite skin complain gradually increasing. The natural process of the body is constrained to enlarge and aggravate the local symptoms always more and more. So that it meets the need of substitution for the increased internal disease and may still keep it beneath.
Example– The old ulcer on the legs will get worse as long as the inner chronic disease is uncured like if a person has anemia, diabetes, hypertension. Similarly, the chancre enlarges if the inner syphilis infection is not cured. The fig-warts (genital warts) increase and grow if the infection is not cured. The latter is difficult to cure if the general internal disease continues to increase over time.
If the doctor destroys the outgrowth, the inner disease makes for its loss by rousing the internal disease and the other symptoms that were previously present in the person. In short, the internal disease is increased.
Complications of the External treatment–
All the methods of treatment that aim to remove the local symptoms from the surface of the body, while the inner disease is still persisting or uncured are pernicious. These methods of treatment are the most prolific source of all innumerable named or unnamed chronic diseases mankind groans. Eg. removing the Condylomatous wart by surgery does not cure the person of infection of Human papillomavirus type 6 and 11. Both these types are sexually transmitted. It does not cure the infection and can lead to cervical dysplasia, and cancer too. Dr. Hahnemann writes that it is the most criminal procedure the medical world can be guilty of. It is important to protect the largest organ skin from such practices.
If we deduct all the cases due to unhealthy mode of living, and those medicinally induced caused due to pernicious method of treatment of the diseases of trivial character, there remain chronic diseases due to venereal and non-venereal infection. Mostly the diseases of non-venereal cause, which are easily spread due to contamination, touch, etc. Each of these infections is already present in the person before the appearance of the skin symptoms. The skin symptoms prevent the outburst of the chronic infectious disease. If the skin symptom is destroyed then there is an outburst of the nameless number of diseases. Chronic diseases have troubled mankind for past more than a hundred to thousands of years. Dr. Hahnemann writes that none of this would have happened if the physician would have practiced in a rational manner and treated the three miasms. Protected the largest organ skin without local remedies for their corresponding skin symptoms, by giving proper homeopathic remedies.
As per the theory of Dr. Hahnemann which is falling true with the research and studies in today’s time. It is time for us to be aware and understand the authenticity attached to his theory for the benefit of mankind. Skin’s importance is not limited to appearance, but it has an impact on the overall health of the person. Thus, it is important to protect your largest organ Skin!
