What causes goose bumps on my skin?
Goosebumps form when the arrector pili muscles contract, drawing the hairs erect. On parts of the body with little or no hair, or with just light hair, a person may detect only the erect hair follicle and not the hair itself. Erect hair follicles seem bloated and larger than normal. This allows them to keep their hair upright and generates goosebumps. A variety of unique causes can cause goosebumps. When it is chilly, many individuals have goosebumps. They may also appear when someone imagines himself to be chilly, as as when watching a frigid scene in a movie. Some people feel goosebumps when they have chills, which they connect with a fever or illness.
Certain emotionally intense events induce the body to produce hormones that create goosebumps. Certain medications might also induce goosebumps. A 2016 research, for example, discovered two sisters who reported goosebumps after taking the medicine milnacipran hydrochloride. Taking medicines that induce activity comparable to those in the body that generate goosebumps may also cause the phenomena. Scientists generally believe that goosebumps are involuntary in normal situations. This is due to the smooth nature of the arrector pili muscles, which create goosebumps. Unlike skeletal muscles, which people may actively utilize to move their legs and flex their limbs, smooth muscles are often uncontrollable.
Goosebumps are not a medical condition. They do not require therapy, and no treatment can entirely eliminate goosebumps. Keratosis pilaris symptoms can be managed with the correct therapy. Some such solutions include:
- regularly moisturizing the skin with a thick moisturizing cream
- using chemical exfoliators, such as lactic acid or salicylic acid, to remove dead skin
- trying laser treatment, if other strategies do not work
