According to MedlinePlus.com, your skin is the largest organ in your body in both weight and surface area. Your skin alone weighs between six and nine pounds and stretches about 2-square yards! Your skin plays an important part in protecting your body from harmful bacteria, infections and regulates your body temperature. Sometimes, your skin takes a beating from those bacteria, infections and other ailments. Some of these skin conditions are downright disturbing.

Below is a list of the top 10 most disturbing skin conditions:

Admittedly, cellulite is not dangerous, painful or even abnormal. However, many people, women especially, view cellulite as a gross skin condition. Many women spend millions of dollars each year to try to hide or banish cellulite from their body. In reality, cellulite is just fatty tissue beneath the skin. Although it does look unsightly, it is not harmful in anyway to your body.

I suppose for most any prepubescent boy, the thought of being excessively hairy is quite appealing. Not so much for the few people who truly suffer from hypertrichosis. Werewolf Syndrome, as it is commonly referred to, is a medical condition where excessive hair grows in places on the body where most people do not normally grow hair, such as all over the face or over the entire body. This very rare condition is said to only have around 50 confirmed cases worldwide.

Bubbles on your skin that are filled with liquid, yes that is gross. Even more gross is when the blister pops open oozing the liquid out. Blisters can be as tiny as a pinhead or as large as a quarter. Most times, the blister will pop on it’s own and once the liquid is out, it can heal naturally over a few days time.

Maybe not the grossest of skin conditions when it is just one or two little pimples, but full-fledged acne can be pretty gross. Acne happens when your pores become clogged with dirt or oil and oxygen can’t get to the pore. The pore gets plugged and produces a whitehead or blackhead. Many pores can clog at once, causing acne. These clogged pores can be on your face, neck and even your back…that contributes to the “gross factor” significantly. The good news is, there are many acne treatments available and most of them are pretty effective. If you want to go with a series of expensive but very effective acne treatments, try the laser treatment. This is done professionally in a dermatologist office. If you don’t want to spend that kind of money, there are many lotions, creams and washes that will work as acne treatments, they just take a little more persistence.

According to Wikipedia, other nicknames for this skin condition include, “Nigua,” “Pio and bicho de pie,” and “Pique” and occurs mostly in Africa, Central and South America, The Caribbean and India.Tungiasis is an infectious skin disease caused by a specific kind of flee that actually burrows under your skin and the female lays eggs, furthering your infestation. The tale-tale sign of Tungiasis is a black dot in the center of a bright red sore. Once this flee infestation gets into your skin, it must be surgically removed to prevent a sometimes fatal, secondary infection.

The proper name is actually, Elephantiasis. Most people however, know this condition as, Elephantitis mostly because the symptoms make you swell up, well…like an elephant. Ok, maybe not exactly like an elephant, but pretty extreme. This condition can cause just your ankles, feet and hands to swell or it can affect every part of your body, yes EVERY part-yikes. Elephantiasis is caused by a roundworm parasite infection, which makes the ewww factor even more prevalent. The good news is Elephantiasis is treatable and eventually, curable.

“Smurf Diease” is what Argyria is sometimes called because with this rare condition, your skin literally turns blue as a Smurf! Scientists believe this rare disorder comes from eating or ingesting silver. Now, most of us wouldn’t think to eat silver, so we should be safe. However, there is a product on the market that is said to be a “natural cure-all” for many diseases and illnesses called Colloidal Silver. There is even some substantial evidence that Colloidal Silver does work, however, too much of a good thing…is never a good thing. And the even worse news?…Argyria is permanent.

HPV is not just a “girl STD thing”, it can happen to guys too. Basically, HPV is usually transmitted through sexual contact of some kind and causes warts on the skin. Sometimes, the HPV spreads to the hands, feet and even the face. Over time, the warts usually go away on their own but not before the major ewwww factor has been repeated many times!…Perhaps that HPV vaccine isn’t such a bad idea after all!

A condition where, for a host of reasons, the blood supply is cut of from a part of the body, causing the tissue in your skin actually die. Gangrene can occur from an infection, illness or an injury to the affected area of the body. One of the treatments for Gangrene is, in my opinion, equally as gross as the condition itself: maggots. You read that right, maggots. Maggot therapy has been scientifically proven (how did they think to test maggots?!) to be an effective, non-surgical treatment in healing Gangrene. The maggots eat the dead and infected tissue and leave the healthy tissue. Also, maggots release a substance that kills bacteria, thus allowing new growth–who would have thought?

And the number one, most disturbing skin condition is……

A chronic disease that is caused by a specific bacteria, that has a really big name on Wikipedia, that leaves a person stricken with big, nasty sores all over their body, including eyelids, ears and even their throat. If left untreated, Leprosy can cause nerve damage, permanent skin damage and even permanent damage to the eyes. There is treatment available for Leprosy but it can take many doses and many months to recover, and a full recovery, without some permanent damage is not promised.

This piece was contributed to us by the wonderful people at AcneTreatment.net