Skin thickness of Korean adults

Skin thickness varies considerably between different races and age-groups, between men and women, and between different regions of the body surface. A few authors reported the skin thickness of different regions of the body, but no detailed study have been performed on Asian. We performed 452 biopsies on 28 different regions of the normal skin of Korean men and women. The specimens were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and measured microscopically. The thickness of the skin (epidermis plus dermis) ranged from 521 to 1977 microm; the eyelid, prepuce, and inguinal skin was thinnest (521-626 microm), and the back was thickest (1977 microm). The thickness of the epidermis varied from 31 to 637 microm; skin thickness in the prepuce, eyelid, supraclavicular region, postauricular region, and axilla ranged from 31 to 71 microm; the buttock, dorsum of the hand, and dorsum of the foot were relatively thick (138-189 microm); the palm and sole were thickest (601-637 microm). The thickness dermis varied from 469 to 1942 microm; skin thickness in the eyelid, prepuce, inguinal region, and postauricular region ranged from 469 to 645 microm; the buttock, chest, and anterior neck were relatively thick (1318-1586 microm); the back was thickest (1942 microm). The epidermis accounted for 3.7-16.8% of the entire skin in most regions, except in the palm and sole (40.6-44.6%). Thickness data may be useful in harvesting full- or split-thickness skin grafts.