Why do our fingers and toes wrinkle in water?

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Have you ever stayed in a pool or bathtub so long that your fingers got wrinkly? This is normal and can even affect your toes. But why does it happen?Although the swelling and wrinkles should go away, you might have wondered why your skin reacts like this after time spent in the water.There are various theories of why fingers and toes wrinkle in water. Most biologists suggest that the tough outer layer of skin made up of dead keratin cells is responsible. Keratin is a protein found in hair, nails, and the outermost layer of our skin.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.

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So why does this happen to hands and feet and not to other parts of the body? Because the hands and feet have the thickest layer of dead keratin cells. Our hands and feet are subjected to a lot of wear and tear.For a long time, people thought the water caused skin to swell up and get puffy. Now researchers believe wrinkly fingers could be an autonomic nervous system reaction. Because it's easier to pick up wet objects with wrinkly fingers. Wrinkles on your fingers may give you more grip, kind of like treads on a car tire.