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It was only relatively recently in the history of medicine, the 19th century, that skin was understood to be a separate organ rather than a kind of porous sieve. Even now we take skin’s miraculousness for granted. It protects us from the elements and from pathogens, it regulates body temperature and remakes itself at a cellular level every month.
Historically skin was seen as a carapace or “flesh bag” into which more important organs were stuffed. That attitude may linger in the medical profession today, where being a cardiologist or a neurosurgeon perhaps seems like a more glamorous position than a dermatologist.
