Why do fingers and toes get wrinkled when left in water for long ?

There are various theories of why our fingers and toes wrinkle in water. Most biologists suggest that the tough outer layer of skin is made up of dead keratin cells is responsible for this phenomena.

• While a person is in the pool or a bathtub for a long time, the dead keratin cells absorb water. This absorption causes the surface area of the skin to swell but the outer layer is tightly attached to the living tissue. So to compensate for the increased surface area, our skin wrinkles.

• Every ones skin is covered with its own special oil called sebum. Sebum moistens or lubricates and protects the skin. It also makes the skin a bit waterproof. But staying in water for a long time washes away the sebum. Then water can ***** the outer layer of the skin. But Why??? Some scientists believe that wrinkles on your fingers could be an autonomic nervous system reaction because wrinkles give you more grip to pick things on water.

• Another theory explains that if certain nerves to the fingers were cut, the wrinkling would disappear. Wrinkled fingers are signs of an intact nervous system. Indeed the wrinkling response has been suggested as the means of determining whether the sympathetic nervous system is functional or not.