Hello,

New member here Glad to find a place where I can find guidance and help from people going through the same skin problems as me.

I am wondering if anyone here has ever had KP on the dorsal (tops) of their fingers, specifically between the knuckles and fingernails? If so, was any kind of treatment successful for you?

I just started getting KP a year ago (at age 39), it first appeared on my fingers and is slowly creeping all over my body (legs, arms, hands, etc). I feel like I have no control over what is happening to me and it is very disheartening. My dermatologist is of very little help and I don't know how to help myself.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

BCgal

Hello I just wanted to say that I have never known anyone to get KP at your age it always seems to start at a young age of around 10 or so. Also I havent heard of anyone with it on their fingers. Are you sure you have been diagnosed correctly? If so that kinda worries me that it can spread to your fingers, for me thats been the one part of my body where the skin looks normal!!!

Thanks for your reply Keira Mae. I wondered about being diagnosed correctly too but I've seen several dermatologists and they all diagnose the same: KP.

My concern is that it is spreading to my whole body - is this normal with KP?

BCgal

i get the occasional bumps on my hands from time to time. But i dont know if its because I had a case of Mites at one point (bed bugs? I dunno, but they sucked!)

doctor prescribed me this cream and it really works. I guess it thins the skin and should be careful where u put it. I got a little bottle of it years ago and i still have about half. Its called Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment.

I would get a second opinion on your diagnosis. If you have KP it means you were born with it. It usually develops at a very early age and it is usually isolated to the backs of the arms and the fronts of the thighs in most people. Others (such as myself) have it much worse. In my case, I had a "normal" case of it until my dermatologist put me on accutane. If you've never seen a trace of it until age 39, I suspect that you may have something else entirely.

BTW, I have been to a dozen dermatologists over the years and it's truly shocking how ignorant most are regarding this condition.

MikeMC, I partially disagree.

While KP is genetic, it probably lays dormant in recessive carriers, until it is triggered by an event (i.e illness, stress, medication, diet or environmental factors). I am 100% certain I have KP (unfortunately) and it didn't rear it's ugly head until I was 20-21 years old. Also, I know of no one that had or has KP in my immediate family, so it probably laid dormant in me and some other family members thru a relative generations down the line. Now, that I try to retrace things, I had a serious case of the flu around the same time I started to notice small patches of red bumps on my triceps. Maybe, that event triggered my condition, as some sort of immune response. When people say illnesses and conditions are genetic, there has to be a progenitor. Why do we and physicians always assume we can't be the first in the line. Many people with KP, say they have researched and found no one in their family with the condition past or present. There were two things that caused the greatest exacerbations 1) using Tazorac whih burned my arms clear, but when the bumps came back they were more pronounce. 2) I lift weights and 5 years ago, I bought an "old school" protein powder to gain weight and while I did put on 15 lbs of muscle in 6 months, the milk/lactose based protein caused the KP to spread to my legs and calves like wildfire.

The human body is extremely complicated and mankind has only figured out a modicum of the how's and why's, as it relates to the human body and it's inner workings. In our modern society, we can't even cure the common cold, so that's proof we are still in modern medicine's infancy. Many prescriptions that are used today, where prescribed for some other condition, but patients started telling their doctors about the off-label benefits they were experiencing. Hence, it eventually goes into clinical trials for FDA approval. Minoxidil (Rogaine) was originally used to help in poor circulation (vasodialator), but men reported hair regrowth to their physicians. Chris Rock said it best when he said "Doctors ain't cured shyt since Polio".

interesting...i seem to be lactose intolerant...i havent had milk to drink since I was a kid...i stopped eating milk and ceral altogether years ago. i will soon be 22 and currently lift weights about 6 days a week. I take protein supplements but it is Whey protein. I have had KP since a young age, but it seems to be spreading as I start sprouting hair in new places. It is at an all-time worse right now, and looks to continue to get worse as I age

but going back to milk, I get serious gas with things like ice cream and milk shakes...even eggs cause some seriously bad smelling farts with me. i wonder what this lactose connection means?