Hi everyone,
I found this site a few months ago and finally realised what it is I've had since I was little.

My query is that I'm now in my 40's and my KP has got much worse over the last 3 or 4 years. I think most peoples experiences seem to be that it gets better the older you get!!!
So I'm wondering if it's got worse because I've also put on weight in the last few years
Probably like all of us KP sufferers I notice whether other people have it too and I've yet to see a slender person with little body fat with bad KP. Is this other people's experiences too? or is it just that I haven't looked properly???

I'm new to trying things to get rid of my KP but have started a regieme of exfoliation and AmLactin twice a day.
It's not working yet.........

I'm slender and have KP. My KP was a major issue even when I worked out alot and was at my skinniest with very little body fat.

Some of the threads talk about toxins and diets that include wheat gluten and dairy contributing to KP. Maybe as some people gain weight, they are consuming even more of these, thus making KP worse perhaps. ??

Moderate tanning bed use with coconut oil has helped improve the appearance of my kp (but not eliminated it). I want to try this Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Body Creme some of the people on this forum are having success with. Have you read that thread? I am going to buy some today.

Some people's KP does improve as they get older, but many people's gets much worse, especially after pregnancy. Generally, KP does worsen as people put on more fat, and will often develop more severely wherever the additional fat has occurred.

KP's relation to fat has never been proven, but there are theories. I included mine on the info page here:
http://www.*********.com/blueparadis...PDiagrams.html

My KP changes a lot depending on what I weigh. It gets a lot worse when I put on fat, and fades a little every time I lose weight. When I was at my thinnest (95 lbs - I am 5'7") my KP was hardly noticeable, and it will appear spontaneously on new places whenever my fat gets thicker there.

It's well known that KP is more common in overweight people than in slender people, but because it has a genetic base, it can occur in anyone of any weight. It's just a tendency thing, that you don't often see thin people with it. Then again, the majority of the US *is* overweight, so the numbers game alone probably enhances that effect...?

It's still a mystery as to why KP does go away on some people after a certain age, or what the incidence of this is. I would be interested to find out if the ones that go away were actually minor cases to begin with, or what.

I have never been 'lucky' with KP having bad normal KP on arms and legs plus UO, KPRF and AV on face. These conditions were really bad from 14 through to late 20's.

In my thirties I began to notice the inflammatory stages of UO and AV began to lessen and the KP bumps on my body began to fade. As I was not diagnosed until age 37 with these conditions I never tried to treat the KP on my body. At 45 it is all but gone on its own, except for some red dots on the top of my thighs.

I often wonder from reading other experiences on this forum why I have been 'lucky' all of a sudden in having KP subside on its own when my condition was so bad. At the age of 14 I was painfully skinny as just being over 7 stone and 5'4" so weight wasn't an issue with KP appearing - I guess hormones were more the culprit. As an adult my weight has always hovered between 8 and 8 1/2 stone.

I personally believe that KP does improve wih age in most people (if you work in an old peoples home you will be pushed to find KP on anyones arms) but that factors like Turquoise mentions in her thread can aggravate it causing it to continue beyond its natural 'use by' date. I believe doctors a decade ago saw KP regularly fade with age but now as the developed world has a tendancy to be overweight this is delaying the natural decline of KP in our systems.

From reading several posts on this forum this is the only thing I can theorise on to explain why my KP has virtually disappeared without treatment when others my age are still struggling with it.

Weight however is obviously not the only aggravating factor for KP. I would suggest from posts on this board the following also contribute:

Hormones (puberty/pregnancy)
Roaccutane
Temperature (coldness)

Interesting though at age 37 I was put on Roaccutane for a year to treat the UO and AV and I noticed no difference (either negative or positive to my KP)

All your replies are really, really useful especially Turquoises link. Thank you.

Although, as I said, I have put on weight in the last few years I'm not actually overweight ...yet... Everything that has been said is an incentive to eat healthily and try not to increase my body fat by anymore.
The mention of hormones sometimes being a contributing factor makes me think that my KP getting worse could be because my body's now in the stage where the menopause is about to start. (I have symptoms which tells me this is the case.)

What scares me is that until last year I 'only' had KP on my upper arms but now, as well as being much worse on my arms, it's spread to my shoulders, back and a little on my thighs. I'm really worried it's going to continue spreading all over.

I'm in the UK so can't get all the lotions etc talked about on this forum.

i have seen it getting worse w/age. i only *within the last month* saw my kp spread to my thighs (front and back)...it's made me PAINFULLY depressed and anxious, since my only affected area in the past was on my upper arms. i am petite and fit, too. 5'3", b/t 115-118 lbs, and I just turned 33. i don't understand why i'm plagued w/it now because b4, at least if i couldn't bare my arms, i could be proud of my legs and wear cute shorts. for the 1st time, i am actually nervous about spring/summer and am shopping for lightweight capris. i'm soooooooooooo self-conscious now. first i couldn't bare my upper half, and now i can't bare my lower half.

Sorry to hear of the increase in KP - it kind of blows my theory on why my KP got better with age! (lol)

Has anything changed in your life i.e. recent pregnancy, new medication. It good that people share all these things regarding KP so we can try and work out the things that improve it and the things that make it worse.

In your case I am lost to say why it has got worse - have you got any ideas why it has spread, especially in the last month???

no, i really have no clue as to why my kp worsened in the month of april. no pregnancy. no new stressors. no change in environment or drastic change in the seasons/weather. i am pretty dumbfounded as to the whole phenomenon! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it's more common in white people too. I've seen it on people of many races, but white people have it more noticably. I think weight has something to do with it. Fatty arms usually display KP. My arms are fatter than they used to be and have more KP on them than before. Maybe that's why pregnancy makes it worse. This is a mystery, I wish that scientists would just tell us the real facts and what really works to cure this. I'm going crazy.

I'm 5' 11'' 155lbs... I'm pretty sure the last time my body fat was checked it was like under 10%, and I still have a slightly severe case of kp. However, I have been reading about Oil pulling, and it's interesting to know that process filters out toxins that link onto fat cells. There's been a lot of talk about op and many people have claimed it's cured or helped their kp. I'll have to try it for a while.

Anne, what are the theories you mentioned regarding temperature and its aggrevating effects on KP?

Also back to the weight thing, I'm slender (5'5" at 110) with a moderate to severe case of KP. If I've lost a decent amount of weight it does seem to look better, but I also wonder if that has to do with sweating and working out. There was a thread about that quite a while ago in regards to sweating helping KP.

I really think it's a hormonal thing. There is an influx and change in hormones in pregnancy, and they also change as we age, which would account for the lessening of KP with age. Of course it doesn't affect everything, and that would be because everyone's natural hormonal balances are different.

As far as I know, the skin temperature theory is mine. I don't recall anyone talking about it until I mentioned it on my page. It is covered there in detail.