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Wrinkled Fingers and Toes

Why Do Your Fingers & Toes Wrinkle in the Bathtub?

There are various theories why your fingers and toes wrinkle in water.

Most biologists suggest that the tough outer layer of your skin, made up of the dead keratin cells, is responsible. Keratin is a protein found in your hair, your nails, and the outermost layer of your skin.

The stratum corneum is the outer layer of your skin - the part that you can see and feel. This is the layer with the dead keratin cells.

When we are in a swimming pool or a bathtub for a long time, the outer layer of our skin, the stratum corneum, the part with the dead keratin cells, absorbs water. This absorption causes the surface area of our skin to swell, but the outer layer of our skin is tightly attached to the skin underneath, so to compensate for the increased surface area, our skin wrinkles.

This happens to our hands and feet and not to other parts of our body because our hands and feet have the thickest layer of dead keratin cells, which protects our hands and feet from the wear and tear they must endure everyday.

References:
The Library of Congress
Research Centers
Science Reference Services
Everyday Mysteries
March 2007
www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/wrinkles.html