How come when I try AHA creams I just get red and inflamed?

Maybe use less and do it every other day, it takes a while for your skin to tolerate it but it eventually will.

He is right, you just need to go into it more gradually. It can work for you if you go about it the right way. Start at a 10% level and use it every other day, or every third day. When you notice irritation, STOP for a few days and let it heal, then start again. Over time, your skin will get used to it and you can gradually increase your lotion potency, and then you can get results in treating your KP.

AHAs increase skin cell turnover. That means that your skin "learns" to tolerate the exfoliation and heal from it more and more quickly over time, but you HAVE to let it heal between applications if there is even a *little bit* of irritation.

The worst thing to do is just keep applying it day after day and let your skin get more and more irritated. This is just continuous assault on it and it will never "learn" or adapt to what you are doing. Don't think of your skin as an enemy - Think of it as a living animal that you are trying to retrain to a new behavior.

It has been caked in a thick layer of dead skin for years, and is not used to *any* exfoliation. So naturally when you take off a bunch of layers suddenly, the skin is "shocked" and reacts with pain and irritation. Do less at at a time, and let your skin catch up between applications. It may take a couple months for it to get used to this new routine of regular exfoliation, but then it will be ready for treatment, and it will be growing back quickly enough that even stronger AHA will not irritate it.

AHAs *can* work for the majority of KP sufferers! It is an awesome way to exfoliate and get rid of bumps and clear the follicles. But everyone's skin is different, and some will need a more gradual introduction to it.