I just found this site and I practically cried reading some of your posts. I'm a 21 art student and I've been through some tough times with my KP. It is very mild on my face (no one has ever seemed to notice it) - but everything else is another story. I haven't worn shorts in front of ANYONE in six years. Self-esteem, all that stuff really goes down the drain in your teen years, and having a skin condition makes everything so much worse - I'm kicking an eating disorder that is very much tied into how I view my skin.

One poster, who identified herself as orthodox Jewish, really resonated with me. I am a very modest person, but I'm scared that I won't be able to ever be physically close with anyone because of how self-conscious I am about my appearance.

I noticed a lot of people were curious about the laser treatments - and as someone who has gone through it (for my arms) I'd be be happy to share my experiences. To end: thank you all for giving me so much information to sift through and fresh perspectives on something that can really suck and isolate a girl. CHEERS!

"Kebod" and some other users described pulling or swishing oil to help KP? This is completely foreign to me. What is it?

Hi - welcome to the site

If you post on this thread either Kebod or 'Molly Bloom' will answer any questions you have.

Oil pulling treatment

I was very touched by your post. I’m a painter. I always get exited when I met other people going into the field of art. We each create our own definition of beauty; that’s our job as artists. Personally, I think modesty and imperfections are beautiful.


As far as intimacy is concerned, I think you would be surprised how close you can get to someone just by revealing your imperfections (whether it’s KP skin or realizing you were wrong about something or being in a bad mood). Being flawed (i.e. normal) makes other people very comfortable.

I hope you share with us your experience with laser treatment, I have read a lot of post about people’s interest in the effectiveness of lasers. I have recently had a lot of success treating my KP by taking large quantities of Omega 3 supplements. Take care.

To badcattoe

Hi,
You say that you take large amounts of omega 3. Well, a few days ago I decided to take dayly 3 grams of omega 3 (fish oil) and my KP has improved as well. The redness doesn't look so irritated anymore.
What were the improvements for you, I mean redness that faded, bumps going away,...? And how much do you take? In the form of fish oil, or other oils?
I would love to hear more about this!

hi i am just a new member as well and like you was happy to learn about this website. i didnt know that i have KP until i went into another dermatologist early this year and clearly identified it. I am so used to people staring at me as i have acne ( how lucky i am!) and now i have KP. My acne is starting to heal and i am just worried about my KP. For people who are not aware about it they keep asking questions and sometimes its annoying and half embarassing as well. but then one day i have decided to wear just shorts sleeves and if they see it and ask questions i will just answer them directly and thats it. i am tired of hiding it and i dont care now what they think because i am more so concern about myself rather than what they say. so i am thankful to everyone who have posted their experiences. truly you are all an inspiration in our battle in finding a solution for our KP. so please keep posting and advising. take care everyone!

Hello Ferngully
Hi Belgiangirl,

I started taking a supplement 2 months ago with Flax seed, Fish, and Borage oil- 800mg of each. I noticed right away my skin was softer and my KP seemed to be getting better. But recently, after reading some of the posts on this forum and doing some research, I decided to increase my omega 3’s, and to stop taking Borage oil which is high in omega 6.

For the past week I have been taking 1 TBS (approx. 7.5g) of each Fish oil and Flax seed oil. The results have been amazing. I have KP on my arms, legs, bum, and face. My arms (where my KP has been so bad they look lumpy and purple) have cleared up more then 50% in this short amount of time. Now, they look blotchy pink with coin sized areas of completely healthy, smooth skin showing. My legs feel absolutely smooth (big improvement), but I can still see all the pink dots. My face is much less red, but my KP areas are kind of flaky. I always thought I had sun damage on my upper chest, but now it’s the same color as the rest of my torso. I am very excited and very hopeful. Please post again and tell me if you see more improvement.

Hi Badcattoe,

I went to a health shop today and bought the flax seed oil as well. So now I can combine the fish oil and the flax seed oil. The only place where I had bumps were my arms and now they are smooth. The rest of my body is covered with red dots. I really hope the redness goes away with the omega 3 oils. It is going better though. Like I said, the redness doesn't seem so irritated anymore, maybe a little more pink. We will see, but I keep you updated. If you have further results, post them please, so I can see there's some hope left for the more severe KP sufferers...