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Goosebumps are a natural response of the body to cold or related to emotions. Goosebumps are rarely a symptom of a serious medical condition.
Goosebumps (goose flesh) are a bodily reflex that we encounter very often. This condition simply occurs when the body is cold or experiences intense emotions such as fear, surprise, etc. However, in some cases, goosebumps may be related to medical conditions.
1. Why do we experience goosebumps?
Goosebumps are believed to originate from the arrector pili muscle, the smooth muscle responsible for the physical reaction. When this muscle contracts, it pulls up the hairs on the body. At this point, the hair follicles swell to create visible bumps at the hair follicle site, known as goosebumps.
Several factors can cause goosebumps,
1.1. Feeling Cold
When the body feels cold, the brain signals the body that it needs to take steps to warm up. Goosebumps are one of those signals. They also serve as an effort to trap warm air next to your skin and help you maintain body temperature.
If you experience goosebumps due to cold, you may also have other symptoms such as shivering and pale skin.
Once the body warms up, the condition of goosebumps will disappear. However, if you feel cold accompanied by drowsiness, difficulty speaking or moving, feeling confused, you may be experiencing hypothermia and should seek prompt medical attention.
Goosebumps when cold are a reaction to warm up the body (Image: Internet)1.2. Intense Emotions
Some intense emotions can cause the body to release hormones that make the small muscles under the skin contract and cause the body hair to stand up, resulting in goosebumps. Specifically:
- Experiencing feelings of fear or terror, the body releases a substance called Adrenaline, causing goosebumps. This is part of the fight-or-flight response.
- Experiencing exciting sensations may cause the brain to release dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that plays a role in motivation, reward, and pleasure. Such experiences can also give you goosebumps.
1.3. Medication
Some types of medication mimic the activity of chemicals in the body that often cause goosebumps. For example, someone feeling excited like adrenaline when using methamphetamine may also get goosebumps. Withdrawal from some drugs, such as opioids, can also cause goosebumps.
Goosebumps can also be due to the influence of medication (Image: Internet)In addition to the above reasons, goosebumps can be a symptom of certain medical conditions, although rarely a symptom of a serious illness
1.4. Fever
Sometimes when we have a fever, we may experience goosebumps. Typically, these cases will have a fever accompanied by chills. The phenomenon of goosebumps at this time is a reaction to help the body retain heat, similar to when the body is cold due to the weather.
1.5. Seizures
Although rare, you may get goosebumps during a seizure. This can happen when having a temporal lobe seizure, where the seizure begins in the part of the brain that controls your emotions.
If seizures are the cause of goosebumps, the patient may also experience other symptoms such as: - Feeling confused. - Staring into space. - Swallowing, chewing, or licking lips. - Involuntary jerky movements of the arms and legs that cannot be controlled.
- Feeling confused.
- Staring blankly into space.
- Swallowing, chewing, or licking lips.
- Involuntary jerky movements of the arms and legs that cannot be controlled.
- Loss of consciousness or awareness.
- Changes in perception or emotions, such as feelings of fear, anxiety.
This type of seizure can last up to 2 minutes. If experiencing convulsions due to a seizure, the patient should be taken to the hospital immediately for prompt treatment.
Goosebumps may be a symptom of some medical conditions but rarely indicate a serious illness (Image: Internet)1.6. Reflex Disorder
This is an overactive response of the nervous system due to spinal cord injury, but it is not a common condition. When experiencing reflex disorder, patients may have symptoms such as:
- Headache
- Excessive sweating above the level of spinal cord injury.
- Slow heart rate
- Reddened skin above the level of spinal cord injury and dry, pale skin below the level of injury.
- Goosebumps above the level of spinal cord injury.
- Cold skin.
- Stuffy nose.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Blurred vision.
- Feeling anxious.
2. Some frequently asked questions
2.1. What causes skin to feel rough like chicken skin?
If you notice bumps resembling chicken skin on your arms, thighs, or buttocks, this is a condition called keratosis pilaris. This condition occurs when the skin produces too much keratin, leading to clogged hair follicles that prevent hair from growing properly and instead result in bumps.
Keratosis pilaris does not affect health but does affect aesthetics. To control this condition, people should keep their skin moisturized, exfoliate regularly, avoid tight clothing, avoid bathing in excessively hot water, etc.
2.2. Is continuous goosebumps a concern?
As mentioned earlier, goosebumps are mostly caused by the body being cold, intense emotions, or common illnesses. Therefore, if you frequently experience goosebumps related to these factors, there is nothing dangerous.
However, if you often experience unexplained goosebumps, accompanied by chills, headaches, fatigue, you should visit a hospital for examination to identify the cause and seek appropriate treatment.
