hello everyone! i'm a new member as of a few days ago. i was hoping ya'll would help me out by posting what has worked for you. i'm desperate to try anything but with a toddler, 4 dogs, a cat and a husband on shift work, i don't have the time i need to read through all the threads. my arms are horrid and i'm so tired of hiding! i read what someone had posted here that said it looked as if they'd rolled in a bed of ants and that sums it up perfectly. thank you so much for your time and i wish ya'll only the best!!
kat

Hi voodoochild

I'm new myself, but I'll tell you anyway what has helped me.

I am almost 25, and have had pretty bad KP for what seems like forever, my skin is now not cured, but is much better than it was.

Careful exfoliating and moisturising regularly are obvious things to do - though I must admit I didn't make the time until I really had my skin condition cruelly pointed out to me.

Fish oils and vitamin A are good supplements to take. (Though only in the recommended doses.)

I have found that drinking less coffee, alcohol and cola and drinking the RDA of 2 litres of water daily is very helpful because this limits the chances of dehydration - which only makes bad skin (of any kind, not just KP) much worse.

Tannning is a personal thing, dependant on skin type, but as a person with fairly dark (olive) skin anyway, I find that a short tanning session once every 10-15 days or so has been very good for me - the darker colour alone hides the worst of the effects of KP anyway. But if you are much fairer it likely won't work so well.

I do use a thing called 'Wonderbalm' that I buy at (http://www.ekoneem.com/) that contains Neem oil. It smells disgusting, but despite it not being designed for KP it works pretty well for ME. My skin is not by any means 'cured' - but it is better than it ever was before.

Retin-A cream is also worth investigating. It affected ME quite badly, and I don't use it, but others do report good results.

KP seems to be one of those things that affects different people very differently, (which makes it quite hard to recommend possible treatments for) and just because something doesn't work for one person... it may work superbly for another.

So try anything and everything! Don't give up, there is something that will most likely help your skin.

Ehe. My KP's not so bad, but exfoliating and being properly hydrated certainly help, as has already been stated. My tips are to:
1) sweat - my condition got loads better once I started working out (and therefore sweating) regularly (less blackheads too!);
2) find a moisturizer that works for you. The only dermatologist in my region prescribed me Curel - it didn't work. Months later I tried 24 Hour Moisture by St Ives. Smooth (though I find I have to apply more than once daily). (Moral of the story: doctors don't know everything. >_< )

Hope this helps!

I've been using glycolic acid serum (30) from platinum skincare along with the super intense copper serum with salicylic acid and it seems to be helping. The follicles on my arms which normally looked clogged and inflamed seem to be opening up.

thanks for your replies! our toddler son has been in the hospital with pneumonia over the weekend so i haven't been around to check for replies. he's home and doing well, btw. himself (hubby) and i are still recovering from a bug so it's been a helluva weekend for all of us!! i'll be back as soon as i can to check things out.
thanks again ya'll!!
kat

A couple things that have helped (nothing has cured it yet) for me seems to be:

a sulfer bar of soap

tanning

and of course.. not picking at them and trying to ignore it. but that never works! :-(

good luck.