If you’ve ever gotten a splinter or had sand in your eye, you’ve had experience with a foreign body. A foreign body is something that is stuck inside you but isn’t supposed to be there. You may inhale or swallow a foreign body, or you may get one from an injury to almost any part of your body. Foreign bodies are more common in small children, who sometimes stick things in their mouths, ears, and noses.
Some foreign bodies, like a small splinter, do not cause serious harm. Inhaled or swallowed foreign bodies may cause choking or bowel obstruction and may require medical care.
Also called: Cutaneous disorders, Dermatologic disorders
Your skin is your body’s largest organ. It covers and protects your body. Your skin
- Holds body fluids in, preventing dehydration
- Keeps harmful microbes out, preventing infections
- Helps you feel things like heat, cold, and pain
- Keeps your body temperature even
- Makes vitamin D when the sun shines on it
Anything that irritates, clogs, or inflames your skin can cause symptoms such as redness, swelling, burning, and itching. Allergies, irritants, your genetic makeup, and certain diseases and immune system problems can cause rashes, hives, and other skin conditions. Many skin problems, such as acne, also affect your appearance.
NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases