Directional variance in skin movement

Skin tension is known to affect the amount of movement in normal skin and h as been theorized to have a possible influence on burn scars. This study me asured the directional variance in skin movement, which is related to this theory. Twenty adult female volunteers had 5 predetermined skin sites teste d; these sites were on the ventral surface of the upper extremities (UE), f rom the shoulder to the wrist. A 1 kg axial traction force was randomly app lied to each skin site in both proximal and distal directions. The skin was load-cycled 6 times before movement was measured with the use of a laser b eam projection. Analysis was performed for each site, and pooled data was n ormalized for the entire UE. Distal skin movement was significantly greater than proximal movement at each of the 5 test sites and for the UE as a who le (P < .001). No significant differences were found among like-direction s ites. Only subject height and length of UE correlated strongly (r = .88). T his study demonstrates a difference in skin movement and discusses how thes e findings may relate to the theory that skin tension could be involved in burn scar contracture and hypertrophy.