The integumentary system is responsible for maintaining homeostasis in your body and activates your senses. The integumentary system is not only essential for sustaining life, but also includes the largest organ in the human body: the skin. Other structures such as hair, nails, glands and sensory receptors are also incorporated into the system. Thermoregulation, the regulation of body temperature, is vital to human life. The body must maintain a temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to function. The skin plays an important role in the regulation process by releasing sweat to the surface and altering blood flow in the dermis, a subsection of the skin. Wounds allow the body to trigger a sequence of events that return the skin to its normal structure and function. Epidermal wounds that include abrasions heal by migrating until contact inhibition occurs. Deep wound healing is more complex because it affects multiple layers of tissue which cause scar tissue to form during the healing process. Deep wound healing occurs in four phases which include inflammatory phase, migratory phase, proliferative phase and maturation phase. During the first phase, blood clots form at the site. During the next phase of the deep healing process, coagulating crusts and epithelial cells migrate beneath the crust to bridge the wound. The proliferative phase is the “growth” phase in which collagen fibers are continuously sent to promote the regrowth of epithelial cells and blood vessels. The final stage involves the removal of the scab once the epidermis reaches normal thickness and everything is restored. Occasionally, during the healing of deep wounds, the tissue may lose some of its functions. The skin is the largest organ of the human body, made up of paper, cholesterol, proteins and inorganic salts. The sweat gland is called the sweat gland. There are three to four million of them scattered throughout the body. The cells of these glands release sweat into the hair follicles or onto the surface of the skin through the pores. Sweat glands are divided into two main types. Eccrine sweat gland is one and apocrine gland is the other. Ceruminous glands are modified glands located on the outer parts of the ear. This gland secretes a waxy lubricating substance. The skin and all of its components and accessory structures work together to maintain homeostasis within the body. If the human body lacked one of these essential systems, the body's thermoregulation would lose its balance and the body would begin to shut down. Without the integumentary system, the human body would not be able to support life or growth.