How do goosebumps occur?

Goosebumps are formed on the skin when the muscle at the base of each hair contract. The contraction of the muscle will create a kind of bump on the skin, and it will make the hair on it stand straight. People get goosebumps on their skin when there is cold. Whenever there is cold, it is natural for the body to react so that the effect of the cold will not be too much. The body will react by causing the muscle at the base of each hair strand to contract so that it can prevent the air from coming into the body.

Goosebumps formation on the skin also has some connections with our emotions. That is why you are most likely to see them forming on your skin whenever you are filled with great fear or anxiety. At times, goosebumps occur when you feel inspired about something, or when someone is praising or eulogizing you.

Goosebumps are raised skin usually caused by the involuntary erection of hairs on the body mostly on the neck, legs, and forearms. This is similar to elevations you see on poultry skin when the feathers are plucked. It is medically known as cutis anserine. Goosebumps are impossible for you to control. This means it is triggered by a form of stimulus. It could as a result of cold, strong emotions or hearing a nail scratch on a surface. This reflex is part of the sympathetic nervous system. In response to these stimuli, the muscles that are underneath the skin (arrector pili muscles) contract, this pulls the hair on the skin and makes individual hair strand to stand.