Hi everyone,

I decided to post something on this forum because I found a solution that somehow worked for me. I have looked at solutions in this forum for more than a year now (under a different log in name) and have tried some of them that "made sense." At best, these solutions didn't quite work for me.

The "solution" I write about here is something I discovered only 4 weeks ago. Again, it's a solution that worked for me but I acknowledge that in all probability, it is something that will work for only some of you.

So I am not promising anything here to anyone. The products I will mention are those that I've used. I am not endorsing them, nor am I related or know anyone related to the companies that produce these products.

Okay, so before I begin, let me give you some backgrounder:


My condition prior to July 2008: I am Asian, 32 years old with a medium complexion. So I am not very fair like the Japanese nor am a very brown like some Southeast Asian/South Asian nationals. I am brownish but skewing to a fairer complexion.

I have had KP for sometime. When I lived in Asia and the US, I noticed it on my upper arms. They were of course unsightly. Brownish patches and bumps. Occasionally, some are reddish due to irritation.

However, when I moved to Canada, the condition became bad. Let's just say I am living here in British Columbia near the US border. That was in late 2006.

The KP on my upper arms developed larger bumps. KP also spread to the left cheek of my buttocks, and at the flanks of my back. Also, I noticed KP appearing now at my back - but not as bad as those that appeared on my arms and left buttocks.

Now - as to my physical conditions: I am male, 140 lbs, fit and trim, and around 5'9" in height.


What have I tried so far:

I haven't really done much when I lived in Asia and in the States. That's because the KP wasn't bothersome. They were confined to my upper arms.

However, when I moved to Canada, that's when I decided to try all kinds of treatment to stem the tide of the KP.


1. I tried Defferin 0.1%/Adalpene 0.1 cream by Galderma. This has vitamin A. It didn't work for me. I used this for around 4 months.

2. While using Defferin, I tried the Loofah and Body Clear Neutrogena body wash but things didn't get better. This is the body cleanser for acne prone skin.

3. Because soap was mentioned as a probable cause of KP, I decided to stop my use of Dove Unscented Soap and tried various substitutes like Goat's Milk Soap, Body Wash (Softsoap brand and also store brand of London Drugs). Using body wash instead of soap improved things very, very slightly.

4. Then of course I tried Eucerin. I tried the Plus Intensive Repair lotion. Things slightly improved but generally, the KP was the still there. My skin became a bit reddish even though I didn't expose myself to sunlight. I think this has 10% urea.

5. Then I tried Uremol with 20% urea. Slightly improved then things got back to their usual condition.

6. Then I tried Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion (aloe) and things improved very slightly.

7. Then I tried Lac-Hydrin 12%. This made my skin condition worst. My skin became irritated and reddish.

8. Then I also tried salycilic acid combined with Eucerin or Uremol. I had the pharmacist prepare a salycilic acid cream solution. I started with 3% solution then raised it to 4% (I think you can't go beyond that without a prescription here in in Canada). I must say - -things improved a bit and I thought then that this was the soluition. But eventually, things didn't continue to improve anymore. So after I tried this, yes things improved slightly, stayed that way, and never progressed.

9. Then, I also tried a little sunbathing (this was in March/April) inside my apartment. The sun would hit the window and I'd expose arms and back. The smoothness improved a bit but the spots became a bit darker. So I stopped this eventually.

10. Then I tried hydroquinone. I am not sure now of the percentage. But things didn't improve.

11. As to food, I ate more carrots, spinach, foods right in Vitamin C. I noticed improvement when I ate some pate (liver). But basically, things didn't improve drastically.

12. Then I also tried astringents with salycilic acid (1-2%) and with antibiotic (a capsule) in them. I didn't see much improvement.

So as you can see, I've tried a lot of things. Maybe, my skin also got irritated because of all the stuff going on my skin.

So I decided to stop all these.

Now comes the part where I decided to try the next batch of products. These were the ones that yeilded success for me so far.

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So now I come to the solution part. To those reading this now, please read Part 1 for the backgrounder and solutions I have tried in the past.

Before I proceed, I'd like to say that I didn't document my progress via photos. So I don't have before and after photos.

Nonetheless, this new solution, I discovered only recently and it has yielded great results:

Before I give the solution that worked for me, here is what I mean by success:


KP in the upper arms - Bumpiness decreased by 40-50%. Brownish spots decreased by 30-40%.

KP at the back - Bumpiness decreased by 50-60%.
Brownish spots decreased by 40%.

KP at the back flanks - Bumpiness decreased by 60-70%. Brownish spots/blemishes decreased by 60-70%.

KP at left cheek of buttocks - Bumpiness decreased by 70-80%. Brownish spots/blemishes decreased by 80%.

As you can see, success is not total. But definitely, there are improvements. They vary in degree depending on where the KP is located.

This is 3 weeks - 1 month in the making.


So what is the solution I applied:

1. Note first that I applied the solution during summer time where temperatures average 21-25 Centigrade. So this could be one factor improving my condition.

However, back in June, when I didn't apply the solution yet, I didn't see much improvement despite the sun, the warmer temperatures (compared to spring/winter/fall), and my exposure to sunlight.

2. Prior to this July 2008 solution, I had relied on 3 other products that I continue to use to this day:

a. Sulphur soap

b. Vaseline Intensive Care Healthy Body Glow self tanner (medium skin tone types). This improved the look for things but the bumps were still there. Of course, I knew the improvement on the brownish spots was cosmetic.

c. Vaseline Intensive Care Cocoa Butter Deep Conditioning (for areas of my body not affected by KP).


3. So finally, the "solution" that yielded the very positive results:


This is the Shoppers' Drug store brand Life 3 in 1 Hair Removal Lotion. It removed hair, exfoliates, and moisturizes.

I bought this because I thought - - if hair played a big part in KP, maybe, removing it will help.

So I bought this thing for the purposes of removing hair.

The instructions are to shake it, apply and leave for 5-15 minutes (I left it for 15 minutes) and wipe using lukewarm cloth (I used a handtowel and water was warm-hot).

When removing the lotion, I applied pressure on the skin. Again, I didn't only want to remove the lotion, I wanted to remove hair.

During my first application, I didn't quite succeed in removing those fine hair - especially on my upper arms. But I noticed that after I removed the lotion and probably 10-15 minutes after, the skin felt smoother. The brownish spots were still there but seemed to decrease a bit.

(note that during removal of lotion, my skin got reddish because of the pressure I applied on it).

Now, a week after, I decided to apply the lotion again. I did the same thing but I sort of got the hang of it and was able to remove hair on the arms and some fine hair at the buttocks cheeks area.

This time, I noticed that things were getting smoother, The brownish spots in arms certainly decreased.

Now during the third week, I noticed the results I described above.

I am particularly happy about the buttocks and flank area. The back area has also improved greatly. As to the arms, I still want to see more improvement but definitely, things are looking up.

All all these have remained. Past solutions would improve things slightly then not progress or revert to the way things were before the solution was applied. Not in this case. Things have continuously improved, and have not reverted to the way they were before the solution.

The smoothness is particularly encouraging and the brownish spots definitely have decreased.

I had just applied the lotion again just now and cleaned it using a warm/hot cloth. I will continue to do this once a week and will update you on improvements.

I don't expect to get 100% success rates by completely eliminating the KP and the blemishes. But certainly, achieving a 60-80% success rate is good enough for me.

In addition, last week, I decided to use my hair trimmer (electric) and also removed some hair (those fine ones - sometimes cannot be seen to well) on all those KP areas.

It helped things surely but I'd attribute most of the progress due to that 3 in 1 hair removal lotion of Shoppers' Drug (storebrand is "Life").

I got the citrus extract lotion. I think there's one for sensitive skin and another one.

Hope this information helps some of you.

Jack

Thanks, Jack, for your helpful information. I'm glad you found relief and I hope it helps others.

kebod