Characteristics of accommodated (hardened) skin.

Abstract

It has been recognized for many years that skin has the facility to adapt to at least certain changes in its external environment. This adaptation has been known as “hardening,” although “accommodation” seems to be more descriptive of this phenomenon. Roth-man and Lorincz in their review of Skin Defense Mechanisms (1) state that skin can adapt to ultraviolet irradiation, mechanical stimuli, and chemical and thermal insults. Protection in the first two instances is apparently due to an increase in the thickness of the stratum corneum which Rothman and Lorincz refer to as “superkeratinization” ; they further suggest that some type of adaptation occurs with chemical and thermal insults.