Hi:

I have horrid red/brown dots on my legs. The kp is not active and i have no bumps. From your tanning expeirence, does the uv exposure make the redness and dots go away temporarily.....cause if my kp is not active i might be on to something.

Thanks a million!!!!

Daze

The red and brown dots are from blood vessels underneath the follicles. This is caused by the irritation of the built up keratin. Even though the bumps are not visable, the follicles are still plugged and irritated under the skin surface. Tanning does help the follicles produce keratin properly if done for a long enough period of time. You have to tan enough that your skin gets damaged to the point where the follicles have to function properly. Tanning always causes skin damage so don't let the previous statement scare you. You have to tan enough in the beginning to achieve a noticable difference in skin color. The change in color means that your skin is damaged and it is trying to adjust by producing melanin. Basically you have to tan enough that you can see thin/fine hairs growing from the follicles. When you see these hairs the follicles are using the keratin to produce hair instead of plugging themselves. At this point you can reduce the amount of tanning to maintain the proper function within the follicle. Once the follicles clear the inflammation and redness will subside.

HI:

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH for your wonderful and helpful advice. How should I tan? Would it be alright to go to tanning salon. I need uv exposure right? Also how often and how much would you say....about two to three times per week for like a month?? Will i literally start seeing hairs coming out of the red and brown dots.......i'm not sure i'll know when to stop.

Also is light scrubbing and exfoliation helpful during this tanning process.

Could this be...i've found a possible solution????

You dont know how much you're help and advice means to me.....

Just remember melanoma skin cancer is starting to become one of the #1 causes of death among adults who spent countless hours basking in the sun when they were young.

Though KP is a hassle, it will not kill you. Sun damage could however.



I highly suggest wearing a SFP sun block of at least 30 to combat the harmful UV rays. Especially if you have moles and your family has a history of skin cancer.



Remember, KP mostly affects us Northern European ancestry types. So we really weren't meant for sun in the first place. And now that our ozone is damaged, we have far less protection from UV damage.



Good luck with your KP, but keep safe in doing so.

I posted this on another thread today. It seems to apply. http://www.keratosispilaris.org/edit...itpost&p=11523


Seeing as our skin is the one part of the body that we show to the world, a dermatologist's job deals more with cosmetic issues than any other. My point being this, if you want information on cancer, talk to an oncologist. They look at all cancers. In our modern-day beauty-based society, a dermatologist's job has become about making us look better. However, staying out of the sun may cause more cancers than it prevents. I agree it's hard to believe but also seemingly true. I've found article after article citing recent research on it and this is some of what I've found.-


MSNBC

"The vitamin is D, nicknamed the “sunshine vitamin” because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays. Sunscreen blocks its production, but dermatologists and health agencies have long preached that such lotions are needed to prevent skin cancer. Now some scientists are questioning that advice. The reason is that vitamin D increasingly seems important for preventing and even treating many types of cancer. In the last three months alone, four separate studies found it helped protect against lymphoma and cancers of the prostate, lung and, ironically, the skin. The strongest evidence is for colon cancer.

Many people aren’t getting enough vitamin D. It’s hard to do from food and fortified milk alone, and supplements are problematic. So the thinking is this: Even if too much sun leads to skin cancer, which is rarely deadly, too little sun may be worse.

No one is suggesting that people fry on a beach. But many scientists believe that “safe sun” — 15 minutes or so a few times a week without sunscreen — is not only possible but helpful to health." (more on this can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7875140/ )

Female Health News

"Vitamin D has been shown on multiple occasions to suppress abnormal cencerous cell behaviors. Researchers theorize that the vitamin puts the cancerous cells back in touch with the control mechanisms exerted by the surrounding matrix, and thus reestablishes the normal cell growth and death cycle. The connection between breast cancer risk and vitamin D levels is supported by the incidence of breast tumors in Europe as related to latitude--the further north the country, the higher the cancer risk.

So do we all now head out and OD on D? There's one not-so-small problem with that, high doses of active vitamin D lead to toxic or even fatal elevations of calcium. Some promising D derivatives are under development with potent antitumoral effects but less influence on calcium balance. Vitamin D may soon be part of an effective program of breast cancer prevention and treatment.

Until that time, dare I suggest that we all take a multivitamin and let a little more sun shine in our lives? (more on this can be found at http://femailhealthnews.com/newsletterview.cfm?ID=387 )

WomenOf.com

Sunlight joins tobacco smoke, too much alcohol, estrogen, and asbestos on the roster of "known human carcinogens." Results of a study in the journal "Cancer," however, directly contradicts the conventional wisdom that we should make fast tracks for the shade.

"It's a dermatologist's viewpoint," declared study author Dr. William Grant as he pronounced such advice "very parochial." His research on cancer mortality rates in the United States found that death rates from reproductive and digestive cancers are twice as high in New England compared to the southwest. Dr. Grant cited an inverse correlation between incidence of cancer and exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light as the source of this regional variation in cancer deaths. In other words, our innards prosper from sun exposure even as our surface wrinkles and burns.

Why would more sunshine mean less cancer, a relationship particularly strong for tumors of the breast, colon, and ovary? The likely mechanism is the protective effects of increased vitamin D production and storage in response to ultraviolet radiation. Parts of the northern United States may be dark enough in winter to shut down these processes completely. Substantial evidence supports a role for vitamin D in cancer prevention .

Based on his research, Dr. Grant theorizes that some 30,000 cancer deaths could be prevented in the United States in one year if the whole country basked in the same sunshine that southern states enjoy. He further estimates that such additional UVB rays would increase skin cancer deaths by about 3,000, leading to a net savings of 27,000 tanned Americans--wrinkled, but alive. (more on this can be found at http://www.womenof.com/Articles/hc_10_6_03.asp )


So while yes, I'd agree that baking in the sun can increase our chances of developing skin cancer, just as with anything else, "All things in moderation." I don't blame anyone for choosing to side with caution as we've all had the fear of developing skin cancer drilled into us for years by dermatologists. And after all, when you have KP, your derm can become your best friend, LOL. I'm just suggesting that each of us take a look at the entire body of information available to us and make an informed choice. For me, having my KP clear up completely for a time due to a "healthy dose" of UV, is worth the minute risk.

-Laura

While I agree that we need some sun exposure I'm worried that anyone reading the above may think that 15 minutes in the sun is the same as 15 minutes in a tanning salon - it's not. It is the equivalent of hours sitting in the sun. Having said that I don't blame anyone who wants to try it. I am very pale skinned/red-head and so I'm not too keen on trying my luck, I've already got plenty of other health concerns without cancer!

I absolutely agree fifi and I'm glad you pointed out the distinction.

-Laura

Vitamin D is very potent in small quantities. Your body synthesis some (Vit D2) from cholesterol in your body. Vit D3 should be supplemented, however only in the required amounts.

Denise,
I believe it's possible that you may have transposed the numbers when you described the sources of each form. D2 (ergocalciferol) is derived from plant sources, usually yeast and it is actually D3 (cholecalciferol ) that is synthesized in the skin (from cholesterol) along with a few other natural sources. D2 is only 1-2 percent as active as D3 and doesn't deliver nearly the same healthful punch.

Having said that, both D2 and D3 are metabolized into the exact same substance by our livers first, and then our kidneys, before we can use it. Contrary to what the supplement manufacturers would like us to believe, we do not need both types. Also, either source will create toxicity if too much is ingested. The really kewl thing about the D3 that our own bodies make when exposed to the sun is that there is absolutely no possibility of an overdose. When we have enough Vitamin D, the same sunlight that is helping to synthesize the D3 in our skin actually begins to break the extra down. If you're interested, you can find more information here: mbc.pharm.utoledo.edu/mbc/undergradcourses/3320notes/Renal%20Cardiac%20Hormones.html

The link is so long that the board's system insists on abbreviating it and the quick link won't work. I had to leave off the URL. You know, the H-tee-tee-pee-colon-slash-slash part, lol. Just copy and paste it into your browser.

-Laura

This website is wonderful. Thank you to all of you providing support. I finally feel like I don´t have to deal with this problem by myself. About tanning- I used to tan and it really helped improve my KP. When I tanned, I actually didn´t know that my bumps were KP. However, then I finally got the guts to go visit a dermatologist and ask about my embarrassing bumps. She told me that it was KP. She also told me to stay out of the sun. She recommended Lac Hydrin, which didn´t seem to help me as much as the sun. Now, that I have moved to Holland were there is very little sunlight and were I don´t go to tanning beds out of fear of skin cancer, my kp has become awful. Now, after reading your info about vitamin D and mild tanning I am starting to think that a bit of mild tanning might be beneficial. I just need to go to a tanning bed since there is so little sunlight over here... so how long should I tan on a tanning bed? Anyone know what a health dose would be?