Piloerection

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July 07, 2008

Piloerection: Don’t get excited this blog is PG!

This blog is geared more toward women more than men, but there are many interesting fact for both sexes.  Today’s topic is piloerection. What does this mean? Let me paint a picture for you….

You just finished shaving your legs, paying meticulous attention to detail to grab every hair without nicking your leg. You make sure your legs are nice and smooth; you step out of the shower and bang Goosebumps (aka: piloerection); everything you just did…ruined.

This is really annoying but also fascinating when you think of your nervous system at work. This reaction is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. This is the FIGHT in the fight or flight reflex. You can not control it; your body was engrained with these vestigial (inborn) reflexes.

 In animals with abundant amounts of hair, piloerection makes the hair stand up, which provides the animal with an insulation layer. However, in humans, with relatively little body hair there is no known benefit. I don’t know about you guys, but things give me the chills all day long. I hear a shocking story on the news…chills, a great song on the radio..chills, a great performance on So You Think You Can Dance..chills, a cool breeze in a dress…chills.

I am always telling my patients to think positive so from now on instead of getting annoyed with getting the chills, I am going to be grateful that my inborn skills clue me in when something profound is taking place right in front of me!

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Definition of Piloerection

Piloerection: Erection of the hair of the skin. Piloerection of the hair, for example, on the arm makes it "stand on end."

·        Piloerection starts when a stimulus such as cold or fright causes a discharge from the (involuntary) nervous system that triggers contraction of the little arrectores pilorum muscles. Contraction of these muscles elevates the hair follicles above the rest of the skin so the hair seems to "stands on end."

·         "Piloerection" is made up of "pilo-" from the Latin "pilus" meaning "hair" + "erection," the condition of being stiff or elevated = elevation of the hair. The term "erection" may also be applied to the stiffening and elevation of other parts of the body.

www.medterms.com