Keratosis Pilaris: A cure for the annoying bumps

Keratosis pilaris is frustrating and not pretty but there are solutions!

You’ll know your keratosis pilaris from the rough ‘keratinous’ bumps on your skin. It’s most commonly found on the upper arms but it can also occur on the face and on other parts of the body. It's annoying, frustrating and it can feel really baffling as to what to do about it. This is why I'm writing this blog post — there are options for treatment and it's not impossible to get those bumps under control!

What is keratosis pilaris really?

It’s where your follicles build up with skin cells. A protein called keratin is what makes up our skin and nails and this keratain overgrows in the skin pores (a process called defective keratinisation) and creates the rough bumps that we see and feel. Those bumps are ‘plugs’ of keratin, which can look a little pink and inflamed and this is called perifollicular erythema.

Why me?

Well, the chances of you having this are statistically high. Keratosis pilaris affects 50-80% of teens and 40% of adults. Sometimes its so mild you don’t notice it too much but in some cases the keratosis pilaris is quite bumpy, red and many people can feel self-conscious about it. There’s not a lot of medical research on the condition but it is said to be caused by a disruption or abnormality to the very top layer of the skin or slight mutation to a gene called the FLG gene. Both these abnormalities can cause inflammation, which is the redness we often see in those bumps.

Is it harmful?

Absolutely not. White it doesn’t look that great it is medically harmless.

What can I do about it?

There are absolutely things you can do to reduce the inflammation and redness and to minimise the keratosis pilaris bumps. In concerning cases laser therapy might be a consideration, but in most cases the right combination of anti-inflammatory ingredients with beta hydroxy acids or retinoids will help.

There are many 'solutions' out there on the web from urea products to AHAs but what we do know is that we need an oil soluble ingredient to pierce through the natural oils in the pore and to start to lift and dissolve the keratin congestion. We also need the right ingredients to support inflammation and calm the skin down.

To make healing your keratosis pilaris easier I have put together a keratosis pilaris healing kit which contains anti-inflammatory key ingredients along with beta hydroxy acid. The result is that we reduce the redness whilst breaking down those build up skin skills in the pores, leaving the skin smoother and less irritated and inflamed.

Get the Keratosis Pilaris Kit!