Hi I am new to this site. I am 16 years old and have KP on my thighs, backs of arms, under my chin, and really badly on my cheeks.
I have noticed the bumbs slowly decreasing over the past few years on my cheeks, but very slightly. The redness however, remains. I am so fed up with it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t90/sdgasg.gif

Also, whenever a bump goes away, it leaves behind a red scar ish thing. Is that normal for KP? My face and chin look like they have are covered in acne scars but I can't even help it!

I know from these picture you can barely tell I have anything, but trust me, its really red. I noticed that it was going away, and my skin was calming, and all of a sudden today and yesterday its worse than I've seen it in a while!! I have no idea why. Could someone enlighten me with my questions and what to do please? Thanks!

Hi Jigfeet - can I ask you some questions just to check if you may have a KP variant called atrophoderma vermiculata?

When you look at your skin on your cheeks in the mirror is it a different texture to the rest of your skin i.e. is it pitted with dents around 1-2 mm's?

Has the skin on your cheeks become quite inflamed and red at times?

Did this redness of the cheeks start in your teens i.e. around 13?

Is it mainly the top part of your cheeks effected and not the bottom part? Does it effect both sides of your face?

Sorry for all the questions but if you answered yes to most of these it may be worth discussing with your dermatologist the possibility of atrophoderma vermiculata. There are recorded treatments for it so don't worry!

here is a link showing someone with atrophoderma vermiculata - mine isn't as pronounced as this but it gives you an idea

http://dermis.multimedica.de/dermisr...5246/image.htm

Anne,

You have me wondering if this is what I have by your questions. I have a patch on each cheek that sounds like this- but does not look like the pic. My doctor told me it looks like I have rosacea. UMMM! No I don't, I have none of the signs of rosacea and I know for a fact that when I was little, my cheeks had the little white bumps- my son has just started getting them exactly like mine.

I will look into this skin condition further to see if that is what I have instead of KPRF.

Hi - I will try and take a photo of my cheek and load it on here as mine is not as pitted looking as the photo posted above. When I was finally diagnosed at age 35 the dermatologist said I had small craters! - however to the naked eye it just looks a bit rough. Because I am the only one in the world that I know with this I can only speak from my own experience - I would hate however for anyone to have this condition and for it to go misdiagnosed/undiagnosed for the length of time mine did.

Hi anne, I am pretty sure that that is not what I have.

I have normal pretty smooth skin (some KP maybe? but very very faint and not noticeable). I have it on both my my cheeks, with the most of it starting at my cheekbones and going down. However my apples are very red, even though there arent any bumps there.
The KP i think also gets really red when I work out or am hott.

About the acne scar things..is that normal?

Hi - scarring (as in indents in the skin) is not normal with KP (except maybe if you pick it!) - Do you have a dermatologist? If so it may pay when you are there next time to get them to look at the cheeks with a magnifying glass to see what is really going on there.

The area you describe is the same affected area as mine. Because atrophoderma vermiculata is reasonably rare it would be good to see a dermatologist who is familiar with it. I hope you haven't got it - if you have however you may find the area continues to get red and more 'pitting' occurs. If it settles down it is probable something else.

I have KPRF - red cheeks that start under the eyes and continue down under the chin. The bumps are part of it, but not different colors. I have a small amount of pitting and scaring, but nothing too noticable (to the general public, that is). My cheeks used to get extremely hot and uncomfortable, a few times they have actually turned a fuchia color and the heat stung my eyes. I've had my cheeks show through make-up at Halloween...everyone knew who I was.

From what I've been told, KPRF is caused by a build up of keratin under the skin that pushes up against the blood capillaries - causing the cheeks to appear red. It's a horrid condition. I went to a dermatologist once - and he told me it was rosacea and I would have to live with it.

Every day I wash with a cleanser with salicyclic acid, just a generic one marketed for acne-prone skin - it helps breakdown the keratin below the skin surface. As for the KP on my forehead? I use the cleanser, plus a salicyclic lotion, and hydrocortisone cream around my brows and upper lip (where they've been waxed) to reduce ingrown hairs and redness.

Looking in the mirror now - there is only a slight pinkness. It looks healthy, I don't have people asking if I feel 'ok' all the time. It is controlled.

I know at 16 it sucks. Trust me, I have been there. Just don't let it control your life.

The only thing i can see would be scarring your cheeks would be scrubbing them WHICH IS NOT GOOD. You should deffinitely avoid doing that. You seem to have a milder case of kprf on your cheeks than I have seen in the past with other people...but one thing i deffinitely recommend for kprf is eucerin red relief (moisturiser). That cured my kprf on my cheeks about 90%...and I'm also 16. KPRF is said to be cure by time, so don't be too worried about having your entire life ruined by this . Believe me...I think it is fair to say kprf has made the teenage part of a lot of people's lives miserable (I know it did for me). Good luck finding something that works. I feel your pain, man.

the redness in my face covers the whole left and right cheeks. But on my left side the redness rides higher touching the bottom portion of my temple. I am 23 and have had this ever since soph year in high school. The redness reached its peak in my junior year and has since then very gradually gotten better. But at times i still wont to go in a cave and hide forever. Sometime my cheeks look ok then they could do a complete 180 and be so red they are maroon. I hate this.

hi jig feet

I also have kp in all the areas u do. I've gone to the dermatologist and she reccommedned differin cream and AmlactinXL (don't confuse with just amlactin there is a difference) using these together I saw my skin getting clearer, it wasn't fast but after about a month or two the redness on my arms, cheeks, and legs looked better. It is really costly though but worth it.

God that KPRF is nothing compared to what I have. YOU ARE LUCKY AND DONT FEEL BAD ABOUT YOURSELF Jig. You look nice and a little redness in the cheeks only looks healthy. How bad was you KPRF? Like coving your entire cheeks with little red bumps that had maybe a nice patch of smooth skin in the center, or just on the high cheek bones like in the photo?

My daughter who is 4 has the redness on her cheeks, too.

I have been using Bath & Body Works Pure Simplicity Sensitive Skin Calming Cream Soy $18.50 on her cheeks.

http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/prod...entPage=family

Her cheeks have ALWAYS been red. But after dilligently using this, the redness is fading. I also use it for her KP on her arms & thighs & that is also getting better. The redness is going away, and the bumps are getting smaller. The key is to doing it every day. Sometimes I will do it in the morning and the evening.

Hope this helps.