# My wife's fingers do not wrinkle in water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2006, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059 "2006-02-25T10:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blueslipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@blueslipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueslipper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/1 "2006-02-25T10:42:15Z")
I understand why my fingers and toes wrinkle when I stay in the pool for a while. Please can someone tell me why my (Cambodian) wife’s fingers do not. Neither do her aunt’s or her neice’s. I am pretty disappointed -I just keep given the same answer about why it happens for me. I have read this answer in different places about 50 times now. But please someone tell me why my fingers wrinkle and Cambodians do not. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/2 "2006-02-25T11:11:28Z")
Because what makes yours wrinkle, their skin is proof against. It’s easier for fair skinned folk to sunburn, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/3 "2006-02-25T11:47:22Z")
Here’s an assortment of WAG’s. Take your pick. 🙂 Maybe it has somthing to do with the size and shape of the fingertips? I’ve heard that there are different types of fingertips; looked at my fingertips from the side, mine are squared off, with a kind of droplet hanging from them; as if I were a gekko. Maybe her fingertips are more pointy and so they have less skin to wrinkle up? How callused (sp?) the fingertips are? Thicker skin? ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/4 "2006-02-25T14:48:11Z")
More in line with something quirkery with that family rather than all cambodians. The outer skin wrinkles because it absorbs water and increases in surface space. The skin there is also thicker, that’s why your whole body doesn’t wrinkle. If their fingers don’t wrinkle then you probably could guess that their skin there isn’t as thick as people who do wrinkle. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/5 "2006-02-25T18:23:31Z")
Perhaps some ethnic groups have a lower blood salinity than others, reducing the absorption of water. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/6 "2006-02-25T21:02:27Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Perhaps some ethnic groups have a lower blood salinity than others, reducing the absorption of water. :dubious: Doubtful. Administering intravenous saline in hospitals would be awfully tricky, were this the case. Do they exfoliate and use lots of moisturizer? If so, the skin is just thinner, and the wrinkles won’t show. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/7 "2006-02-25T21:13:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > :dubious: > Doubtful. Administering intravenous saline in hospitals would be awfully tricky, were this the case. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/8 "2006-02-25T22:55:39Z")
One connection my husband and I have noticed is that I barely sweat at all (to the point of danger in hot weather, actually), and he sweats profusely pretty much all the time. My fingers barely wrinkle in water, and his wrinkle far more than mine do (we’re both white Canadians). I also have quite dry skin most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![blueslipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@blueslipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueslipper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/9 "2006-02-25T23:23:16Z")
> [@Burrido](#): > > More in line with something quirkery with that family rather than all cambodians. The outer skin wrinkles because it absorbs water and increases in surface space. The skin there is also thicker, that’s why your whole body doesn’t wrinkle. If their fingers don’t wrinkle then you probably could guess that their skin there isn’t as thick as people who do wrinkle. I have met many Cambodians at the swimming pool I go to here in Melbourne. I have asked them to show me their fingers also. None of them get wrinkled fingers. I have also taken my wife’s family to a swimming pool in Phnom Penh. I can assure you it is not some quirk in one family. Cambodians do not get wrinkled fingers from swimming. In fact they think I have some disease that causes my fingers to wrinkle. My wife wants me go to a doctor about my fingers getting wrinkled from swimming. Another question. What do not Japanese people sweat ? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/10 "2006-02-26T00:11:49Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Why? Because you’d have to match saline type to saline type, the way you do blood types. Otherwise, a too saline IV would cause osmosis-induced havoc in the system of a low saline person. ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/11 "2006-02-26T02:59:08Z")
You could use [this site](http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/wrinkles.html) to try to reassure your wife that it is not abnormal for skin to wrinkle in water. As to why her fingers don’t wrinkle, I would agree that the most likely explanation is thinner skin on her hands. No cite on that though, just my thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/12 "2006-02-26T04:46:33Z")
I wonder how much the wrinkling is affected by skin oil? Oily skin would tend to be more waterproof, and might not absorb water and change size. Perhaps an experiment is possible: before a trip to the pool, thoroughly rub into your fingers some mineral oil (baby oil) or even vegetable oil. You could even try this on some fingers and not others. Then see if the oil halts the wrinklification process! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/13 "2006-02-26T04:52:27Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Because you’d have to match saline type to saline type, the way you do blood types. Otherwise, a too saline IV would cause osmosis-induced havoc in the system of a low saline person. I don’t think so. The kidneys are very efficient at eliminating excess salt; that’s why we can eat dill pickles, anchovies and Top Ramen. A low saline person would not have an adverse reaction to normal saline solution. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/14 "2006-02-26T06:22:56Z")
> [@](#): > > The kidneys are very efficient at eliminating excess salt; that’s why we can eat dill pickles, anchovies and Top Ramen. But then, there’s a big difference between taking something in through the digestive system, and injecting it directly into the blood. I’m not sure what’s right, here, but that’s not a very good argument. And just to throw out another (probably worthless) hypothesis, perhaps there are different cultural patterns in how you and your wife (and other Cambodians) go swimming. Maybe Europeans tend to stay in the pool for three hours straight soaking continually, while Cambodians tend to go into and back out of the water frequently, or some such. As for Japanese folks purportedly not sweating, I’ve never heard that. Do you have a cite that they don’t? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/15 "2017-02-19T16:57:55Z")
Reviving a zombie, I know… The wrinkling of skin of the soles of the feet, palms of hands, fingers, and toes is due to a sympathetic nervous system response. Failure to do so may indicate damage to the sympathetic nerves. If indeed the OP’s wife and Cambodian acquaintances are not showing this response then perhaps there is a common genetic variant in that population that short circuits this response. The BBC noted in a [report](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160607-why-your-skin-goes-wrinkly-in-the-bath)on why skin wrinkles that: > [@](#): > > But a century ago, scientists already knew that this curious reaction wasn’t a simple reflex or the result of osmosis. > > That’s because surgeons learned that if certain nerves to the fingers were cut, the wrinkling response would disappear. Wrinkled fingers, then, are signs of an intact nervous system. Indeed, the wrinkling response has been suggested as a means of determining whether the sympathetic nervous system is functional in patients that are otherwise unresponsive. I’ve recently been having some problems with my back and have seen some signs of sympathetic nervous system problems. I just hauled my foot out of a bucket of water after a long soak and the skin is smooth, not wrinkled. Neat party trick to show the neurologist. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/16 "2017-02-19T23:53:41Z")
My toes and feet don’t wrinkle in water but that is because I have a spinal cord injury with resultant nerve damage. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/17 "2017-02-20T01:01:10Z")
Your wife is a lizard person. Keep one eye open at all times. Lizards never sleep. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/18 "2017-02-20T01:53:09Z")
> [@blueslipper](#): > > I have met many Cambodians at the swimming pool I go to here in Melbourne. I have asked them to show me their fingers also. None of them get wrinkled fingers. I have also taken my wife’s family to a swimming pool in Phnom Penh. I can assure you it is not some quirk in one family. Cambodians do not get wrinkled fingers from swimming. > > In fact they think I have some disease that causes my fingers to wrinkle. My wife wants me go to a doctor about my fingers getting wrinkled from swimming. > > **Another question. What do not Japanese people sweat ?** Bolding mine. Is this a whoosh? JpnGal (Japanese) sweats every time see has a big bowl of ramen, finishes her gym workout or spends a summer day with me at Tokyo Disney. Japanese men sweat too. Sadly, most don’t use deodorant. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wifes-fingers-do-not-wrinkle-in-water/346059/19 "2017-02-22T18:20:48Z")
> [@JpnDude](#): > > Bolding mine. Is this a whoosh? > > JpnGal (Japanese) sweats every time see has a big bowl of ramen, finishes her gym workout or spends a summer day with me at Tokyo Disney. Japanese men sweat too. Sadly, most don’t use deodorant. Sigh. It’s not that they don’t sweat. It’s that most Japanese (and other East Asian) people have a genetic variant where they have fewer apocrine sweat glands. These sweat glands release a more oily sweat that contains compounds that the bacteria on our skin consume and convert to pungent compounds that produce the bulk of what we call body odor. While fewer does not mean none, it’s apparently low enough that deodorant didn’t become a cultural requirement as it did in other places. I’ve been told that the average Japanese person showers multiple times a day (and use special wipes when they can’t do so), and this is considered enough.