Free Flow of Sweat due to Loss of Surface Tension at Sweat Droplet Causes Water-Induced Skin Wrinkling
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Anatomy and Physiology, Dermatology, Neurology
- Keywords
- water immersion skin wrinkling, sweat droplet, surface tension, homeostasis, sympathetic nerve function, vasodilation, vasoconstriction
- Copyright
- © 2013 Marasakatla et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Cite this article
- 2013. Free Flow of Sweat due to Loss of Surface Tension at Sweat Droplet Causes Water-Induced Skin Wrinkling. PeerJ PrePrints 1:e57v3 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.57v3
Abstract
Water immersion skin wrinkling appears to be the result of breaking the balance between secretory pressure of sweat glands and the pressure exerted by the surface tension of sweat droplet at the pore. When a hand is immersed in water, sweat droplet easily merge within the water causing pressure to drop at the pore. The resulted imbalance in pressure enables the sweat to flow freely into the water. Flow of sweat continues as long as there is a blood flow to hand. To prevent the loss of sweat from the body and to maintain homeostasis, sympathetic nerves trigger the reduction of blood flow to hand causing vasoconstriction. The overlying skin wrinkles due to loss of volume under the skin.
Author Comment
Extensively updated the manuscript based on the comments received. Included an analysis of pressure calculations within the sweat duct and the water with additional references.