Goose pimples are little bumps that appear on your skin when you are frightened or cold. At the center of each bump is a hair in a tiny tube. This tube goes inside your skin. Near the bottom of the tube is a tiny muscle which tightens up and pushes against the tube if you are suddenly frightened or exposed to cold. These muscles pull the hairs down and push up the skin around them to form the little bumps that make your hair “stand on end.”
This action of your hair “standing on end” actually keeps the outside air nearer to your body to keep you warmer when it is cold.
Goose pimples get their name from the actual bumps which appear on a goose’s skin when its feathers are plucked!
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