If you’re worried you’re not drinking enough water in the summer heat, a simple finger test can warn if you’re dehydrated.
Simply pinch the skin with two fingers on your abdomen, the front of your hand or the skin on your chest just below the collarbone for a few seconds, holding it in place as you pinch.
After pinching your skin for a few seconds let go and if the skin immediately returns to its regular position that means you have normal turgor which shows you’re hydrated enough.
The skin staying up for a few seconds is called ‘tenting.’
Dr Dana Brems, a podiatrist in Los Angeles, stitched a video on TikTok in April showing how pinching the skin of your finger can predict if you need to drink more water. The method, dubbed the Skin Turgor Test, measures skin’s elasticity
The Mayo Clinic recommends that men drink 15.5 cups of water per day (3.7 liters) and women drink 11.5 cups (2.7 liters)
The method has been the subject of several viral TikToks, with physicians backing the trick.
Dr Dana Brems, a podiatrist in Los Angeles, responded to a video on TikTok in April showing how to perform the test.
In the original video from 2021, content creator Remus Bujor shows himself demonstrating the ‘dehydration check’ by grabbing the skin just above his knuckle.
‘Squeeze your fingertip right here, and if it goes back down, you’re hydrated,’ Bujor said in the video. However, he notes that if the skin stays up, ‘you’re dehydrated.’
In her video, which has over 4.5million views, Dr Brems explains that this is called a skin turgor test, which measures the skin’s elasticity.
This is how quickly something can return to normal after being stretched or compressed.
‘When you’re well hydrated, your skin has greater elasticity, and it quickly returns to its original shape after you pinch it,’ Dr Brems said.
‘On the other hand, dehydration leads to decreased skin elasticity and a slower return to normal.’
Staying hydrated helps the skin maintain collagen, a protein that provides structure and strength to the skin, muscles, and bones.
This collagen gives skin its elasticity.
However, skin elasticity can decrease with age, regardless of how much water you drink.
Other signs of dehydration, according to the Mayo Clinic, include extreme thirst, less frequent urination, dark urine, fatigue, dizziness, and confusion.
The Mayo Clinic recommends that men drink 15.5 cups of water per day (3.7 liters) and women drink 11.5 cups (2.7 liters).