The stratum corneum — one paper-thin layer of dead cells — holds up to 100,000 ohms of resistance. The living tissue underneath registers only 300 ohms. Add water and that outer barrier drops to roughly 1,000 ohms.
The stratum corneum, the outermost layer of human skin, accounts for more than 99% of the body’s total resistance to electrical current. That single fact rewrites how most people picture the body’s relationship with electricity. The muscles, blood, and nerves underneath are not the shield — they barely slow current down at all.
Internal body tissue registers around 300 ohms. Dry intact skin ranges from 1,000 to 100,000 ohms depending on moisture and condition. A calloused, dry hand can push past 100,000 ohms. The living interior of the body was never doing the heavy lifting.
- Dry skin resistance: 1,000–100,000 ohms; wet skin drops to roughly 1,000 ohms
- Internal body resistance (muscle, blood, tissue): approximately 300 ohms
- More than 99% of total body resistance resides in the skin, not internal tissue
- The stratum corneum is composed of flat, dried-out dead cells — the primary resistor
- Sweat and water both increase skin conductance by saturating that outer layer
Why the Stratum Corneum Is the Body’s Primary Electrical Barrier
The stratum corneum’s resistivity runs between 10³ and 10⁶ ohm-meters. Viable skin just beneath it measures only a few ohm-meters. That is a difference of several orders of magnitude across a layer thinner than a sheet of paper.
Dead cells packed with dried-out keratin create that gap. They block ionic current the way dense, dry material does — not through any active mechanism, but simply through structure and hydration state.
What Moisture Does to Skin Resistance
Water changes the stratum corneum’s electrical behavior at the structural level. It seeps into the dried-out cells and spreads through the narrow gaps between them, creating ionic pathways where few existed before.
The result is a roughly hundredfold collapse in the outer barrier’s resistance — from up to 100,000 ohms down to around 1,000 ohms. At that point, the skin’s resistance approaches the internal tissue value of 300 ohms, and the dominant resistance in the circuit shifts from the skin surface to the body’s interior. Human sweat produces the same effect, since it carries dissolved ions that raise conductance at low frequencies.
FAQ
What is normal skin resistance in ohms?
Dry, intact skin typically ranges from 1,000 to 100,000 ohms. A heavily calloused dry hand can exceed 100,000 ohms.
Why does wet skin conduct electricity more easily?
Water saturates the stratum corneum’s dead cells and fills the gaps between them, creating ionic pathways that drop resistance from up to 100,000 ohms to around 1,000 ohms.
How much resistance does the inside of the human body have?
Internal tissues — muscle, blood, and nerves — register approximately 300 ohms, a small fraction of even wet skin resistance.
What layer of skin is responsible for electrical resistance?
The stratum corneum, the outermost layer of dead, keratin-packed cells, accounts for more than 99% of the body’s total resistance to external electrical current.
Source: Journal of Emergency Medicine / PMC, conduction of electrical current to and through the human body.