Wrinkles

[Lucinda]

Ok i had this thought this morning and thought this was best place for it. When you are in the bath and your fingers turn like prunes i know its to do with osmosis. No oil because no pores so the skin is more permeable to water. I remember that much from school! But what i can't remember is which way the water flows. Do my fingers wrinkle because they are losing water (which seems logical) or because they are gaining water in odd places? And in either case, does it matter if the water was salty or had anything else in it? Thankyou for scratching my curiosity. Oh and this in no way implies anything about how much time i spend in the bath Thankyou!

[Talia]

This is because of osmosis.  What happens is that water will move into your cells.  That makes sense of how skin swells up but it doesn’t necessarily make sense that your skin’s wrinkly.  You'll notice when you have a bath you don’t get wrinkles all over.  You get wrinkles on the soles of your feet, on your hands: especially your fingers.

This is because you have a layer of protective keratin.  Keratin’s a kind of tough stuff, it’s what claws and nails and so on are made of.  This means that the skin here is much thicker than elsewhere on your body, and this thick layer is made of dead, keratinised cells.  This takes up more water than the thinner skin elsewhere, and so swells up, and goes wrinkly.

[Lucinda]

Oh! Ok. So what about the saltwater thing? Does that make it worse? Or less?

[Talia]

Less, because of the minerals in the salt...plus salt tends to draw water out rather than allowing to collect. It cleans the skin and removes some toxins, making you sweat.

I believe i could be wrong...

I think if the water is hot and your soaking for a long spell...when you get out...your body well crave a well needed glass of cold water to replenish whats been lost.

[Serephino]

I think as long as you were using stuff that's meant to be used in a bath you'll be fine.