Skin microflora and its acidity: what do we know about it?

A change in the pH of the skin affects the functioning of the body in general

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In one of the articles, we already talked about the acidity of the skin surface as one of its physiological characteristics (along with hydration, structure, temperature, etc.). Today we suggest you go further and understand how our body manages to resist pathogens and maintain normal skin bacterial flora with the help of pH stability.

The skin is the largest organ, the surface of which in an adult is about 2 m2. This is a complex complex of ecosystems, containing resident and transient microflora, mainly bacterial, to a lesser extent fungal and possibly viral. The skin bacterial community can be symbiotic or parasitic with respect to the host's physical and immune status.

The acidity of the skin surface is one of the main constants that have physiological significance for its normal functioning. As we could see above, it is prone to physiological fluctuations in accordance with external factors and daily rhythms, which indicates the presence of internal self-regulation mechanisms, the ability of the skin to adapt to changing environmental conditions, strengthen or weaken its protective properties.

Analyzing modern ideas of science about this problem, we can conclude that a change in pH of the skin inevitably affects the functioning of both the skin itself and the body in general.

Full version of the access article in Ukrainian

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