"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo F. Buscaglia

One square inch of human skin contains 19 million cells, 625 sweat glands, 90 oil glands, 65 hairs, 19 feet of blood vessels, and 19,000 sensory cells. The human skin is considered the largest organ in the body (about 16% of your body weight), and covers an area of 20 square feet. Your skin, or integument, has many different protective and metabolic functions that help keep your body stabilized.

Touch and Pressure

The technical description of touch can often minimize the emotive response associated with the act of touch. Our brains can sense whether touch is comforting or confrontational. However, it is technical descriptions that can help us see how many elements must work together to provide a proper sense of touch.

A sense of touch is derived from the skin, which is the body's largest organ. While the skin contains hair follicles, blood vessels and sweat glands, it is the nerve endings that help us determine touch. Sensory Receptors are most acute in the fingertips making them a prime 'touch screen' for the brain. The brain captures a picture of the item touched and makes conclusions about the stimuli as to whether it is something that is hot or cold, sharp or dull, distasteful or pleasurable. Sensory receptors allow us to detect if an insect is crawling on our skin.

Our covering of skin is helpful in feeling for and locating objects through millions of sensory receptors that send information directly to the brain. To help you understand that impulse you might try grasping an item with thick gloves on. In this scenario your fingers have trouble detecting the pressure needed to fully grasp the item, so your grip on the item will be different than if your fingers had been in direct contact with the item.

The nerve endings for touch are most acute in the tongue, lips and especially your fingertips.

Pain Receptors

If a painful sensation has been introduced to the skin the sensory receptors are quick to inform the mind. Without this sensitivity we could hold our hands over an open flame and never realize the flesh was being singed. The sensation of pain can also cause you to withdraw from sharp objects or respond to a puncture or laceration of the skin. It may be interesting to note that the sensory receptors are not all located on the surface of the skin. Many of the sensory receptors are located below the skin and may respond in a slightly different way that their surface counterparts.

Cold and Heat

Nerve endings also allow you to detect the presence of extreme cold or heat. The detection of these elements can cause you to withdraw and seek protection from these elements.

The Human Touch

The British Heart Foundation has observed that the sense of touch through hugging seems to result in lower blood pressure, reduced heart rates and minimized stress responses. The Foundation further asserts, "Scientists are increasingly interested in the possibility that positive emotions can be good for your health. This study has reinforced research findings that support from a partner, in this case a hug from a loved one, can have beneficial effects on heart health."

The sense of touch has both utilitarian purposes as well as wellness benefits that seem to operate independent of the actual sense of touch.

Conclusion

The body contains 6-10 pounds of skin, yet it is the sense of touch that is most often used to facilitate lasting connections between parents and children, husband and wife and the hugs associate with the closest of friends. The sense of touch while operating on two different levels relies on a very sophisticated relay system between the skin and a mind capable of reacting to the touch in an appropriate way.

Is it possible that evolution produced such an important and complex organ as the human skin? The many intricacies of its functions would seem to indicate an evidence of design. One writer remarked: "The skin is a miracle of evolutionary engineering: it waterproofs the body, blocks out and destroys harmful bacteria, regulates temperature, and continuously communicates with the brain" (McCutcheon, 1989, p. 113). Yes, the skin is a "miracle" — but is it a miracle of evolution?

Perhaps the sense of touch
looks designed because it is designed.

(1) Apologetics Press: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2581
(2) McCutcheon, Marc (1989), The Compass in Your Nose (Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher).