Kids Ask Dr. Lisa:
Why Do Fingers Wrinkle in Water?

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, August 6 and November 26, 2006

Show 321

Good question, kids! When I was little, my mom used to say "You've been swimming for too long, your fingers will prune!"  Wrinkly fingers and toes, or pruning as some people call it, happen when your skin soaks up water. Our skin has a kind of waterproof oil on it called sebum. That's why water rolls right off your skin in the bath or shower. If you spend too much time in the water, the sebum washes away and guess what? You're not so waterproof anymore. Your skin soaks up the water causing it to swell in some places which makes it look wrinkly. Now, this only happens on your toes and fingers because they don't have any hair. The hair follicles on the rest of your body are able to keep making enough sebum so it doesn't wash away. The wrinkly skin isn't dangerous or permanent. After you get out of the water, it doesn't take long for your pruny fingers and toes to go back to normal.