Think fast: How does your face protect you?

May 20, 2023

Staying Healthy

Your face plays an outsized role in your interactions with the world. It's usually the first thing a person notices when they look at you. It's home to the eyes, nose, and mouth, vital body parts that allow you to eat, drink, and communicate. But our facial features are also engineered for their own self-protection — and help protect our bodies in many surprising ways.

I learned how the human face is designed for self-protection while whipping around a lasso I'd been given as a birthday gift. At 8, I'd seen enough cowboy movies to think I knew how use it, at least until the rope struck me across my face. Within seconds a raised red streak ran across my forehead, eyebrow, and cheek. But it skipped my eye.

Once sure I was okay, my mom pointed out that being set back and surrounded by my eye socket bones had protected my eye from damage.

I learned two important lessons that day. First, facial anatomy is remarkably good at protecting itself. Second, using a lasso is harder than it looks.

Our eyes help keep us safe by feeding detailed information about our surroundings to the brain. Having two eyes pointing ahead (rather than just one) allows for depth perception and a wider field of vision.

What's more:

The nose that allows us to smell flowers, bread baking, and other pleasant scents also serves as an alarm system: if there's a gas leak or if food has spoiled, a good sense of smell can be lifesaving. It also warms and humidifies air passing through. That's important because cold, dry air can be irritating to the lungs.

Additionally:

Eating, drinking, and speaking are among the most important functions of the mouth, but there are other ways it's protective:

How is it that the human face developed to protect its host in so many ways?

As is so often the case with the human body, you can thank evolution. Over thousands of years, evolutionary pressure ensured that features favoring survival were preserved in our genetic makeup.

This includes facial anatomy: each element of your face is there for a reason, from its shape, form and function to its various attachments and orifices. Even features that humans consider attractive (such as symmetry, youthfulness, or familiarity) are partly due to evolutionary pressure: these features help attract mates, and therefore may increase the chances of passing on genes to offspring.

Remarkable features of the human face serve to protect itself and its host. Unlike communication and social interactivity, these features are less well known and probably underappreciated.

So, the next time you look at yourself in the mirror, go ahead: Check how good you look. Or for signs of aging. Or for lettuce in your teeth. But whatever you're searching for, remember: there's a lot more to the appearance of your face than how you look.

Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

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