Categories of Thickness
Skin thickness can be categorized into: 1) thin, 2) medium-thick, and 3) thick. Distinctions between each type are not clear-cut and must be made by clinical examination of firmness, tightness, bulkiness, and the ease by which the skin can be wrinkled by facial expressions.
Skin thickness on the face depends on the location: cheeks are thicker compared with the rest of the face, the forehead varies, the jawline is thinner than the cheeks, and the eyelids are thin. Skin thickness is not related to the fullness of appearance, which is due to the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer.
A simple way to determine skin thickness is to measure skin fold size with a clip. Thick skin will show a fold in the clip that is more than 2 cm, normal skin, 1 – 2 cm, and thin skin, less than 1 cm. See pages 23, 29, 43, and 50 for additional information on determining skin thickness and selecting the proper protocol.