Bryan Coppin, age 12, of Oshawa, Ont., Canada, for his question:
What causes goose pimples?
A skin covered with goose pimples is very uncomfortable, for the owner of the bumpy skin is either very cold or very, very scared. However, the attack is no cause for alarm. In fact, it is one of the body's built in tricks to keep itself warm and when the shivering patient gets over that chilly feeling, the bumpy goose pimples disappear.
The human body is crammed full of tricks to keep itself in good running condition. Many of these operations are automatic, working without orders from the conscious mind. It has a series of devices to keep its temperature within the normal range of 97 to 99 Fahrenheit degrees. These temperature controlling operations are automatic and one of them calls forth a bumpy rash of goose pimples to help return the heating situation to normal.
Body temperature is controlled by a small section of the brain called the hypothalamus. This brain center has two thermostatic controls, one for cooling off an overheated body and one for preventing more heat from Escaping from a chilly body. When the body is very cold, this second thermostat flashes orders to the network of nerve endings below the skin. This stops the escape of heat, but it may cause a rash of goose pimples.
The amazing skin is a thin, waterproof layer of tissues set with numerous Small factories for aiding the body and for keeping itself in good condition. It has oil glands for lubricating and sweat glands for secreting liquid that cools as it dries. It is spattered with almost invisible hairs that grow from roots in the deeper layers of skin tissue. It is fed with finer than fine blood vessels and meshed with finer than fine nerves. It is controlled by a network of delicate muscles and the miraculous covering rests on an insulating layer of cushiony fat.
When the hypothalamus thermostat in the brain orders the body to conserve its heat, the skin muscles contract. The skin and the fat below it tighten up and stop more heat from Escaping. The muscles may be ordered to shiver, thereby creating more body heat. Sweat glands are sealed, vessels shrink and the flow of warm blood to the chilly surface is reduced. As the skin muscles contract, they tend to form bumps around the tough little root hairs. And this is what causes the chilly patient to break out in a rash of goose pimples.
A sudden ghastly scarf also may give a person goose bumps. We share this event with our friends in the animal kingdom. Goose pimples cause an angry dog to raise his hackles and a scared cat to fuzz up her fur. The scared or angry animal looks bigger than he is, maybe big enough to scarf away his attacker. In arty case, the enemy may misjudge his aim. He may strike at what he hopes is a bite of meat and get only a mouthful of fur.