Exocrine gland facts for kids

An exocrine gland is a special part of your body that makes and releases substances through tiny tubes called ducts. These ducts carry the substances to a specific place, either inside your body (like into your stomach) or onto its surface (like your skin).

Think of it like a tiny factory with a delivery pipe. The factory makes a product, and the pipe delivers it exactly where it needs to go!

What are Exocrine Glands?

Your body has many different kinds of glands, and exocrine glands are one important type. They are different from endocrine glands, which release their products directly into your bloodstream without using ducts.

Exocrine glands make all sorts of useful things. For example, some make sweat to cool you down, while others make digestive juices to help you break down food. Each exocrine gland has a specific job and a specific place where it sends its product.

How Exocrine Glands Work

When an exocrine gland makes a substance, it doesn't just let it go anywhere. Instead, it uses a duct, which is like a small tube or channel. This duct acts as a pathway, guiding the substance directly to where it's needed.

For instance, your Salivary glands make saliva, which helps you chew and digest food. The ducts from these glands carry the saliva into your mouth. Another example is your sweat glands, which have ducts that open onto the surface of your skin to release sweat.

Examples of Exocrine Glands

You have many exocrine glands working hard inside and on your body every day. Here are some common examples:

• Salivary glands: These glands in your mouth make saliva, which helps you start digesting food and keeps your mouth moist.
• Sweat glands: Found all over your skin, these glands produce sweat to help cool your body down when you get hot.
• Mammary glands: In females, these glands produce milk to feed babies.
• Liver: This large organ has many jobs, including making bile, which is an important fluid that helps digest fats. The bile travels through ducts to your small intestine.
• Pancreas: This organ makes digestive enzymes that travel through a duct to your small intestine to help break down food. It also makes hormones, which means it's also an endocrine gland!
• Gall bladder: This small organ stores and concentrates bile made by the liver before releasing it into the small intestine through ducts.
• Prostate: In males, this gland produces fluid that is part of semen.

These are just a few examples, but they show how important exocrine glands are for many different body functions!

Images for kids

• 

  A close-up view of the human esophagus, showing some of the tiny glands within its walls.

See also

In Spanish: Glándula exocrina para niños