I am trying out pulse dye laser treatments on the back of my left upper arm. Four weeks ago, a dermatologist, who specializes in treating skin disorders with various types of laser, treated the same arm on 2 small test areas. The lasers that were used on the two test areas were different in that one was more intense than the other. So four weeks later, the spot that was treated with the more intense laser is showing signs of decreased redness, and there are fewer bumps around that same area.

Here is the bad news: This treatment will not entirely rid you of bumps; rather, it will primarily get rid of the redness and reduce the amount of bumps. I now have intense red marks from the lase that was used today. These marks/bruises will last between 3-4 weeks. On very fair skinned people, there is a chance that the laser can leave some brown pigmentation, for up to 3 months. Fortunately, I don't have that type of pigmentation. Also, this laser is not painless, to say the least! The back of my arm looks ghastly right now! KP looks like beauty queen skin next to this.

Also, I don't think that this treatment is widely available. I am seeing a specialist and he didn't even know whether this would be entirely effective on KP. It may be hard to find doctors who have this type of laser??? My insurance is covering the cost of the doctor's visits, but I did not meet my deductible and to pay about $250.00 US dollars for the first visit. The rest of the costs will be co-pay, which is good. (Hope anyone who considers this has insurance).

So while I am happy to report that there is something out there for getting rid of the redness, there are many, many drawbacks to this procedure. The doctor has been taking photos of my arms, before treatment, during treatment, and he will take after treatment photos. I will give an update in a few weeks. I go back in 2 weeks to have my right arm treated. Wish me luck. You cannot take Advil or pain relievers ater this treatment because it increases the chance that the laser bruises will bleed and further dye the skin. Ouch!

Finally, while I heal, I will continue to use 2 products that I like very much, which I have not seen listed on this message board: 1) Burt's Bees Apricot Baby Oil,(all natural apricot oil) and 2) Borage Oil Therapy Dry Skin Body Lotion by Shi Kai -- there is a pediatric formula for those under 25 years of age and an adult formula. I like these products very much. Before I apply these, I use an exfoliation scrub, such as sea salt scrub or copper peptide scrub...whatever you like. Cheers.

I hope the treatment will be successful. While I was browsing for KP dermatology papers, I found this one that might be of interest...

Treatment of keratosis pilaris atrophicans with the pulsed tunable dye laser.

It's a detail report concerning your treatment (very technical stuff). This article might be helpful if anyone else wants to partake in the same procedure.

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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

This sounds promising. Are the results permanent? I can't wait to see how it turns out! Please keep us all posted. Thanks.