It was a
cold winter morning. Tony was reluctant to take a bath. His mom prepared a warm
bubble bath with his favorite floating toys. Tony was excited and soaked
himself in for an hour. But to his horror, when he came out, instead of smooth
and supple, his fingers were all wrinkled. Tony felt as if his fingers had
transformed into raisins. He was annoyed and asked his mom, why did the water
do this to him?
Let us help
Tony's mom explain to him the reason behind the raisin fingers.
The wrinkles
that occur in skin after prolonged exposure to water are sometimes referred to
as pruney fingers or water aging. This is a temporary skin condition where the
skin on the palms of the hand or feet becomes puckered.
Let us
explore the science behind it and the different hypothesis that revolve around
this.
Osmosis
concept - For years it was thought that the dry skin absorbs water by osmosis
and swells up. The stretched skin appears to be wrinkled, as it has to
accommodate in the same area. But research proved that it is not due to the
osmosis.
Keratin
thesis – The keratin-laden skin when immersed in water, causes the skin to
expand, resulting in a larger surface area, forcing it to wrinkle. Usually the
tips of the fingers and toes are the first to wrinkle because of a thicker
layer of keratin and an absence of hairs that secrete the protective oil called
sebum.
The nervous
system theory – This is the most widely accepted theory for the pruney finger
phenomenon. In 1935, the studies on nervous disorder by Lewis and
Pickering showed that skin wrinkling, did not occur in the areas of the
patients' skin normally innervated by the damaged nerve. This clearly suggested
the important role of our nervous system in wrinkling.
Water
probably initiates the wrinkling process by altering the balance of
electrolytes in the skin as it diffuses into the hands and soles through the
numerous sweat ducts in them. Nerves fire as the electrolytes alter the
stability of the synaptic membrane .The Sympathetic nervous system is
activated, which also governs breathing and heart rate. Rather than swelling
up, fingertips shrink when they wrinkle because the blood vessels inside them
contract. The blood vessels of the fingers constrict, the decreased volumes in
the deep layers of soft tissue essentially pull the skin, creating the folds
that we know as wrinkles.
The purpose
of wrinkling- Wrinkling
response may have an evolutionary benefit.
It could have helped our ancestors with gathering food from wet
vegetation or streams or being able to get a better footing in the rain.
According to an experiment done by Tom Smulders, an evolutionary biologist at
Newcastle University, UK – “We have shown that wrinkled fingers give a better
grip in wet conditions — it could be working like treads on your car tyres,
which allow more of the tyre to be in contact with the road and gives you a
better grip". Wrinkled fingers apparently made no difference when it came
to picking up dry objects. Our fingers do not wrinkle all the time as there is
one Achilles’ heel to this great power of grip - wrinkled fingers tend to be
more sensitive and can increase the risk of damage through catching on objects.
So, the wrinkles are actually your friend in need.
Unique pattern-
Mark Changizi an evolutionary neurobiologist at Idaho, proposes that the
wrinkles in fingers work like rain treads on tires. They create channels that
allow water to drain away as you press your fingertips on to wet surfaces,
which would allow your fingers to make better contact giving you a better grip.
After the
explanation Tony’s mom was satisfied and this left Tony feel proud that he too
had the evolutionary benefit.
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