Why does human skin wrinkle in water?
Fingers and toes wrinkle after long-term exposure to water. Oddly, other parts of the body generally do not display this strange ability.SebumSebum, a natural human skin oil, is responsible for protecting our epidermis. Water can wash sebum off our skin leaving our outer layer of skin to absorb moisture.KeratinWhile the process is not fully understood, it is thought that keratin, a layer of cells found on the surface of our skin, is responsible for the “pruning” effect. The tougher, more calloused parts of our skin are made up of dead keratin cells, which absorb water and swell.DermisThe dermis, the layer of skin beneath the epidermis, remains unaffected by the water. Since the dermis stays the same, the swollen epidermis begins to wrinkle as it swells.DigitsThe reason fingers and toes are impacted by this effect while other areas are not is because they are our most calloused areas with thicker layers of keratin.Alternate theoryIt has also been suggested that the wrinkling effect is r
