Page 46 - General_Knowledge_7

Enlighten Me!

Wrinkly Fingers After taking a long shower

You’ve been playing in the pool for almost an hour now or taking
a long shower. Now it’s time to get out, and as you look at your
hands, it’s the attack of the wrinkly fingered monster!

Don’t get frightened or run for cover under your towel yet. After
spending lots of time in the water, it’s absolutely normal for fingers
(and sometimes toes) to wrinkle.

Even though you can’t see it, your skin is covered with its own
special oil called sebum. Sebum is found on the outermost layer of
skin. Sebum lubricates and protects your skin. It also makes your
skin a bit waterproof. That’s why getting caught in the rain, hopping in the shower after a game, or
washing your hands before dinner won’t leave your skin soggy. Sebum is there to keep the water out.

But what happens when you spend a long time in the water? Well, there’s only a particular amount of
sebum on your skin at a time. Once the sebum is washed away, the water can make its way into the
outer layer of skin. The water does this by osmosis. This is when water actually moves from a place
where there is more water to a place where there is less water. There is more water in the pool than
there is in your body, so it naturally moves to the place where there is less water – you!

Although your fingers may look shrivelled like raisins, they aren’t really shrivelled – they’re actually
waterlogged! The extra water in your fingers causes the skin to swell in some places but not others, and
that’s what causes the wrinkles.
It isn’t just pool water that washes away the sebum. Sitting in the bathtub for a long soak can also
wash away the sebum and leave a kid with soggy skin. Washing dishes for a long time, scrubbing and
rinsing your puppy, cleaning the gravel in your aquarium – anything that keeps your hands in water
long enough will give you wrinkly
fingers.

What should you do if you come out
of the pool looking like a raisin? Not
a thing! Having wrinkly skin after a
swim or bath doesn’t mean there is
anything wrong, and it goes away
by itself quickly. You’ll have more
sebum on your skin in no time. If
you really can’t stand the raisin look
and will be doing something around
the house that keeps your hands in
water, you can wear rubber gloves to
keep the sebum from being washed
away.

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