How to Treat Keratosis Pilaris
Keratosis pilaris (also known as KP or follicular keratosis) is a common skin condition that usually affects the back and outside part of the upper arm. It doesn’t affect the palms or soles of your feet, but it can affect your legs and face.
Keratosis pilaris appears around the hair follicles and looks like small, benign bumps or papules that are actually waxy build-ups of keratin. Skin sloughs off at a consistent rate, however, the area where the KP papules form sloughs off at a much slower rate, clogging the follicles.
The result is small bumps all over the affected area. These are what we call goose bumps.
Keratosis Pilaris Treatments
Keratosis pilaris usually subsides with age, but you don’t have to wait to grow older to reduce their appearance now. KP generally responds well to creams containing Vitamin A, alpha hydroxy acids and salicylic acid. If you prefer a more intense type of treatment, you might want to exfoliate with a microdermabrasion cream.
Vitamin A (retinol or retinoids) works on KP by causing the outer layer of the skin to grow more rapidly, and thereby decreasing the amount of the keratin in the skin. As a result, the surface layer of the skin becomes thinner and pores are less likely to become blocked. This ingredient is also helpful if you suffer from acne related conditions.
Keratosis pilaris creams benefit from alpha hydroxy acids or AHAs. These acids are derived from different types of foods. The most common AHAs are glycolic acid (sugar cane), lactic acid (milk), citric acid (citrus fruits) and mandelic acid (almonds).
AHAs have an enormous effect on keratinization. It works by modulating the formation of a new stratum corneum. This is done by diminishing cellular cohesion between corneocytes at the lowest levels of the stratum corneum. This permits the stratum corneum to slough off at a higher rate than it was previously able to.
Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid that is commonly used in a wide range of cosmetic products. Similar to AHAs, Salicylic acid also helps the skin shed more easily.
You can also exfoliate your skin with a mechanical abrasive to help promote cell turnover. Some less expensive mechanical methods may include using terry cloth towels cloths, facial scrubs, crepe paper, sugar or salt crystals. You can also use loofahs and brushes, but you may benefit more using specialized creams.
Be careful not to use an exfoliant with pumice or other mechanical abrasives if you have sensitive or dry skin. Instead, try natural acids like milk or grapes to help remove dead cells.
There may not be a keratosis pilaris cure, but there are some very successful treatment options for you to try. BIOSKIN Treatment is a natural an very effective and natural keratosis pilaris lotion that contains natural ingredients which help eliminate KP bumps from your skin – willow extract and amorphophallus Konjac root powder. So no matter what the keratosis pilaris causes are, you can safely get rid of these bothersome bumps.
- Catalina Igor