Can surgery be done???

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Originally posted by Rachel

I am 16 years old and I have had KP on my arms for as long as i can remember. It has left me in tears on a number of occassions. On occasions when I dared to show my arms, I always found myself receiving a number of negative comments. The weather is extremely hot here but I have disciplined myself into wearing long sleeve clothing all year round. I have a boyfriend whom I love and i have been going out with for over a year and i still have not told him about my condition and have managed to wear long sleeve shirts whenever i am in his presence. I have always wanted to tell him about it, but I have been hoping that something can be done for good.
Is laser surgery possible to remove the hair follicles?? I am sick of using pathetic creams that only SLIGHTLY improve the condition. I want permanent results, and I am sure that the rest of us do as well.
I am sorry that this article is so down and depressing, but I can't hide my feelings anymore. It makes me upset everytime I think about it.

Can anyone help me???

With love from Rachel.

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Originally posted by Derek

Hey, I'm a 17 year old male .. and i am going through the exact same thing you are going through. I wear long sleeve shirts everyday. And I live in florida!!! I hate how i can barely even get a girlfriend because of this. When people ask me why i always wear long sleeved shirts i need to make up some lame excuse. I just wish i could be myself and do things with my friends like go to the beach, go swimming, etc. This doesnt answer ur question, but ive been also wondering if some sort of surgery would work. So if anyone has any clue , it will be much appreciated. Thanks

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Originally posted by Rachel

I am so thankful for this website!!!!
I am so grateful to know that there are other people out there who are affected by the same condition that I have.
Derek - thankyou for answering my article. For some reason I am sure that there is a possible cure for this condition, and if research was done I am sure that we would all never have to think about KP ever again!

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Originally posted by Derek

I feel like becoming rich and paying someone 1 million dollars to research this and find a cure.

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Originally posted by Unlucky Girl

Hey...I know how you feel because I have it really bad on my upper arms as well and I have had to live with wearing 3/4 length sleeves or staying home instead of going to the beach or cottage with my friends. However I have been doing microdermabrasion with photo-facials on my arms and I have noticed a huge improvement. The bumps did keep coming back in between treatments but then I ordered the sulfur soap with 3% sal. acid and that has helped keep the bumps away. Now, the microdermabrasion and the photo-facials are really fading the spots and they look more like freckles now than actual spots. I am hoping that by the time my treatments are done, that the spots will be faded to the point where they will just be blended in with the rest of my skin. It is really expensive and I believe it is a fairly new treatment so it might be hard to find a place that will do a good job of it. I know there are some salons or day spas that offer "pulsed light treatments" but I don't think they are the same or produce the same results. But I think that you should look into the microdermabrasion and photo-facial treatments because they have helped me a lot and I think the money was worth spending because it was really expensive. I have two more treatments to go but I might do a couple more afterwards to see if I can get an even better improvement...that is only if the spots aren't already completely gone by the time I am finished the next two (fingers crossed)! The photo-facials have also been killing the hair follicles, which are an added bonus - no hair. Apparently the laser hair removal is only really successful with thick, dark and coarse hairs but the thin hairs (like the ones on the upper arms) don't really benefit from the treatment, but the photo-facial treatments have been ridding my upper arms of the hairs. That is probably helping in getting rid of the KP as well since it is hair-follicle related...Good luck and I hope that this has given you some hope. It might not work for everyone, but it has been working for me and logically it makes sense that it would. Since the microdermabrasion helps exfoliate and the photo-facials are for pigmentation problems. But I am not an expert so it would be best to get a consultation and do research before you commit to anything.

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Originally posted by Rob

If only there was some surgery that would alleviate this condition, but i'm afraid there isn't, at least to my knowledge.Your best bet is to search through previous posts and find out what works for you, Rachel. Sulfur soap is the only thing that really had significant results for me, but it doesn't help everyone.I have been very depressed about this condition myself, especially because I have it on my face which is very aggravating.Still, I couldn't be happier that this board exists, it gives me hope that I will be able to eliminate all symptoms eventually. Having people that you can talk to that understand what you're going through makes a world of difference! Don't give up hope, we're all in this together.

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Originally posted by Rachel

You guys are great! I love you all. Thanks for responding to my messages.....