In some conditions such as facial paralysis or stroke this reflex is lost and it becomes necessary to prevent the eye from drying up by keeping it closed or covered and by regular irrigation. The ear Ceruminous glands located in the outer ear canal are modified sweat glands that produce cerumen or ear wax. This provides a sticky barrier to foreign agents entering the ear canal. This is seen as a local non-specific defensive response to tissue damage. Its function is to eliminate the cause of the damage, remove the consequent dead cells and restore the constancy of the internal environment and as such is closely associated with wound healing which again will be covered in further detail later in the course.
Inflammation occurs immediately after a physical, chemical or microbiological injury.
As such it may be due to a splinter, acid burn, heat burn or local bacterial infection of a hair follicle or pore of the skin. If the damage is due to laceration of the skin an effective barrier against invasion of the wound known as a scab will occur within a relatively short period of time. Again this will be the subject of further study later in the course.