What is a mucous membrane( in laymans terms please)?!


Question: It's a specialized sort of skin that's basically designed to stay damp and slimy. It's only a few cells thick and like the elastic wall of a balloon it forms a membrane that keeps the inside for spilling out and the outside form contaminating your tissues. It tends to be smooth, pink and normally covered with mucus. Thus the name.

You find it on the underside of your eyelids where it helps you blink smoothly and easily, in your lungs where it helps you dissolve gasses into and out of the blood, in the digestive system, your mouth and lips, inner nasal passages, and last but not least, the... er... sensitive parts of the genital regions of both sexes.

It's basically the areas of your body surface that need to stay damp or slippery, produce mucus or serve some special function that needs a nice slimy surface.

Strange facts:
Unlike normal skin, the mucous membranes will not tan in the sun. This can cause naturists all sorts of interesting problems. I believe circumcised men quite vulnerable to strong UV rays. Ouch! (reaches towards groin protectively)

Some medicines are taken under the tongue where they are dissolved into the saliva and the molecules adsorbed by the thin mucous membranes. Actually swallowing the pills would not work as the stomach would break them down.

You may find this link helpfull.


Answers: It's a specialized sort of skin that's basically designed to stay damp and slimy. It's only a few cells thick and like the elastic wall of a balloon it forms a membrane that keeps the inside for spilling out and the outside form contaminating your tissues. It tends to be smooth, pink and normally covered with mucus. Thus the name.

You find it on the underside of your eyelids where it helps you blink smoothly and easily, in your lungs where it helps you dissolve gasses into and out of the blood, in the digestive system, your mouth and lips, inner nasal passages, and last but not least, the... er... sensitive parts of the genital regions of both sexes.

It's basically the areas of your body surface that need to stay damp or slippery, produce mucus or serve some special function that needs a nice slimy surface.

Strange facts:
Unlike normal skin, the mucous membranes will not tan in the sun. This can cause naturists all sorts of interesting problems. I believe circumcised men quite vulnerable to strong UV rays. Ouch! (reaches towards groin protectively)

Some medicines are taken under the tongue where they are dissolved into the saliva and the molecules adsorbed by the thin mucous membranes. Actually swallowing the pills would not work as the stomach would break them down.

You may find this link helpfull.

Mucous = snot (snot is also known as mucous)

Membrane = barrier or lining.

A mucous membrane is a layer of slimy goo (like snot). You have them in your sinus's (which is what I think you are referring to) and you also get on on your cervix when you're pregnant (mucous plug). Mucous is only a bad thing when you have too much of it or when it gets infected (like when you have a head cold and your nose gets all snotty).

Mucous membranes include areas like the nostrils, the lips, the ears, the genitals and the anus. These are areas of the body that are exposed to the environment and need some protection.





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