do you think these are related to KP?

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Originally posted by vegas girl

In responding to a post about blushing, it finally occured to me that, even though I do not have KPRF (only KP on arms), I have always turned beet red with the slightest exertion. It seems that KP affects the capillaries of the face even in those without RF. Then I started wondering about other related issues - I'd like to know if anyone else has the same experiences. 1) I got many broken capillaries in my cheeks when giving birth - could it be that KP sufferers (RF or not) have weakened or exposed capillaries that burst easier? 2) I have read that KP sufferers over produce Keratin. I have very long, very strong and thick hair and thick nails. Since Keratin is the protein that affects hair and nail growth, could this be related? 3) On the flipside of 2 is that my hair and nails tend to be dry and brittle without constant attention - is this related to the "dry skin disorder" component of KP? 4) My skin bruises, scars, and stretch marks very easily (sometimes I think taking a deep breath would cause me a stretch mark!) Basically, I feel I literally have thin skin. Could this be related and why? I realize these are not questions of earth shattering importance, but I am on a quest to understand as much about my skin and body as possible. I have just lost 60 pounds and this tends to cause you to actually look at yourself in the mirror. If I found out that a large group shared these same issues, maybe I could understand more about my own skin. Thanks if you take the time to respond - I appreciate it.

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Originally posted by lisa

My nails are always brittle too, they break all the time, it's so annoying!...and also i get stretch marks, and my face tends to go red easily but i do not have KP there. My friend also has kp and he has a stretch marks too...it could be related! I just hope that oneday somebody figues it all out

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Originally posted by Rob

Some interesting questions I wish I had the answer to.I can't say that I have any of the problems that you mentioned, but my hair is dry, and I have had dandruff since about the time I got KPRF(about 2 years ago). I always flushed relatively easy before KPRF, but I never payed much attention to it. I'm not sure if these things are related at all, but hopefully more people will respond.

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Originally posted by Kevin

I found your dandruff comment interesting. I suffer from KPRF and I also have developed a problem with dandruff recently. Until I read your post, I never put the two together. Do you know for sure if there is a direct connection?

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Originally posted by Kevin

Like you, I have KP and problems with broken capillaries. Have you ever had them cauterized? I did, but it only provided temporary help; plus it hurts like hell. I also have the problem with the blushing; even relatively mild exercise causes major redness in my face. Even though my dermatologist didn't say anything on the subject, I think you are probably correct in your questions about KP sufferers having other problems as a result. I think there is a problem with lack of knowledge on the issue, even by dermatologists.

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Originally posted by Daves320

I hate to break the trend, but I have always had thin hair, etc. So I don't know if you can really correlate the thickness of hair and the ability for the skin to shed dead skin cells. What I can add is that you probably have KPRF and don't know it. My cheeks were exactly like yours for about 15 years, Until one night when I noticed that when I would stretch the skin on my face a little bit, the difuse redness would turn pale, however, I noticed little red dots that would not lose their redness. This was the scaring left by KP. The KP on your face doesn't have to be as rough as it is on your arms.... Just a thought.

Dave

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Originally posted by KS-with-KP

It very well could be related. I have some broken capilaries on my face. When overly exerted, embarassed, cold, etc...I have that flushed look. I have the WORST case of KP in my family, and my hair is thicker than anyone's in my family, and grows very quickly. I can remember when I was young, my mom would cut our hair (1 of 5 kids) and my pile was as thick as all of theirs combined!!! My nails are thicker than anyone's I know. I always hear "are your nails real or fake", I keep them a little long, but it seems that once they get a certain length or something, they start to crack, and I (sometimes) have to cut them all down and start all over. My cuticles are ALWAYS dry (I touch alot of paper all day long at work though, which I also understand draws moisture out as well). The elasticity of my skin is thin too (I have the "chicken skin" look to my skin) If I pull my skin tight, it looks normal, but when I let go, it looks thin/kind of loose (and I'll be 31 on Sun., so I don't think it's due to age). Fortunately my daughter has nice "thick" skin (the way I wish mine were). I also bruise easily, scar easily, and get stretch marks too. My skin condition is ALWAYS on my mind, I think about it too much, and how I wish my skin were nice, and the "why me", etc.................................(Something else I've been meaning to say) Isn't it sad that we have to live in a world where "perfection" means that much! That what you look like matters as much as it does! I have resentment for several things, like T.V., magazine's, etc...for contributing to the "perfection" thoughts of man-kind. Their shows, adds, etc...are full of false perceptions of what beauty is. It's not a matter of what KIND of person you are, that makes you "beautiful", no, that's not good enough. It's how good looking you are that matters soooo much. You could be the most beautiful person on the inside, and hardly anyone would give you the time of day, if you weren't attractive or something...BUT, if you're good looking, everyone wants to talk to you. I've been told that I'm attractive, etc...(I have a bad body image though, so it's hard for me to take any compliments on my looks). The "GORGEOUS" people on T.V., in mags., etc...have about 10 or more people "working on them" to make them look so good, their picture's are airbrushed to make them look flawless, etc...The sad part is that no one looks THAT Good. Well, I'll admit that there are some very good looking people who were born that way, but I've read that a very small, (only about) 5% of the whole world are "born" that way! What makes things worse is that BECAUSE of those so called "gorgeous" people on T.V., people have false perceptions and expect people to look more "perfect". My sister had read somewhere that after men had viewed porn (sorry, I don't like it either) and saw ALL those "gorgeous" girls, they saw their mates as less attractive. (I can't compete w/ the way they're made to look!) What's sad is that those (so-called) women don't look that good either, so once again FALSE PERCEPTIONS. It bothers me to no end that the world just keeps getting worse on things like that there too!!!!! I have insecurities that my boyfriend's ex-wife was sooo much better looking than me, and I've never even seen a picture of her (I just know that it took him over 2 years to get over her, 1 of those years has been since he's been w/ me, and I'm not real sure that he's completely over her now!...They were married less than 2 years-they were together almost 3 total). In the 2 years we've been together, he's said some things about her that's made me feel that way, like, she looked like Claudia Schiffer, that she was a size 1, etc...(I'm a size 6 to 8, which makes me feel huge compared to her, and I'm of average size! :-( )His mom gave me the impression that she was just gorgeous too, by saying similar to what he has said, and that "she had such a cute figure, etc...) It has given me a complex!! He says he likes the way I look, but I don't FEEL that he really does, and I know my KP is bad, so that makes me really wonder. This world is sad, because people are so superficial, and it makes people feel they have to look a certain way because of that!! I wish the world were a better place, unfortunately, I don't see it changing, we'll just have more and more stuff we have to do to try to look like we're expected to look :-( !!!!! (by the way, SORRY this is SOOO long!!!) KS

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Originally posted by Emily L

All of those sound familiar. I have a Scottish and English family history with others thrown in there. I used to have lots of hair and it was kinda thick, now I have thin hair and less. That commercial about the hair on the floor not being your husband's scares me to think I will be bald soon. eek. Always have had nails that split and break easily. Thin, very fair skin that burns easily, strech marks on my upper thighs ( I thought you only got those when you had a baby, WRONG!). Along with the redness on the kp bumps, I think I have broken capillaries, teeny tiny red dots. Plus in the past year or so, I have red veins or "spots" on my face. I thought it was just veins underneath starting to show more with age. Luckily my concealer helps that. I guess I have dry skin, that's what I was told when doctors looked at my kp. I didn't really have dandruff I don't believe,my scalp itched for a while and I use head and shoulders dry scalp during the winter and it seems to help. My skin gets irritated in hot water, I can't go into a hot tub or jacuzzi. I feel like my skin is being burnt off. When I get hot, I turn red easily, also when I get embarrassed.

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Originally posted by Kim

I do find that I do bruise easily. I don't have dry skin at all, it's oily. I need to take a shower everyday, even twice a day. I'm not one of those girls that could go out all night after work because I had to get home to shower. I feel gross sometimes hours after a shower. When I was pregnant the oily skin went away and I think maybe that is why my KP got so bad. It will be 2 years in Feb. since I had my Daughter and I'd say my skin just got back to what it used to be about 6 mos. ago(oily). My nails are good(stong). My hair is good also w/ the exception of getting oily too fast. When I sleep at night I have to put it all up because my bangs will be greasy in the morning. I do not have any stretch marks, I always noticed that when in high school in the locker room everyone of my girlfriends had them (not that I was checking girls out) but girls tent to talk and notice these things about each other. My mother does not have any stetch marks either and she is in her 50's. I guess it's just good elastic skin. Maybe the oily skin thing is why my KP has improved so much on my legs??? It was really bad after I gave birth. Who knows what is linked to what w/ this KP thing.

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Originally posted by here goes

1) No broken capillaries on my face, but I'm starting to get broken veins on my legs. I think that's due to age and not KP.
2) My hair is very fine and limp and my nails are very weak (bend very easily and tear, that sort of thing).
3) My hair is greasy and my nails are brittle.
4) The skin on my thighs bruises very very easily and my stretch marks are very pronounced on my thighs and buttocks, which is where my KP is the worst. I just have to put an extra ounce and there you go - yet another stretch mark.

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Originally posted by Mimmi

Well, I find my skin to be very thin too, however I thought that was because I have very fair skin. I believe I have RF though I never was diagnosed with it. My cheeks are red and gets even more red when i exercise or get hot. With age I have also noticed broken capillaires in my face but i believe they might come from sun damage. I am 28 and recently noticed that I unfortunately had gotten stretchmarks but I did not find that very surprising since I thought most women got those sooner or later. My hair is medium thick and can grow long, i do not think my nails are very thick since they break easily. You are right that this matter is interesting. In my family i am the one who has the worst case and I am also the one with the fairest skin. My moms is not as noticable anymore. My sister and brother only have the bumps but since they have olive skin the bumps are not noticable unless you touch, my bumps are red or almost purple at times. No one but me has it in the face and I sure wish I would have been born with that olive skin. I really believe that KP is more noticeable in thin, and especially fair, skin.

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Originally posted by steve m

thanks for your reply to my first post

I get very red in the face when I do some activities also, and when i get embarrassed (which i get embarrassed sometimes because I know I will turn red, and well you know, snowball effect). I mainly have the bumps on my upper arms and chest, and the red dots on my thighs.

I guess my hair is thicker than some peoples, and yes it is dry. My nails could be a bit thicker than some peoples, but I don't consider them dry. they are quite flexible if they get a bit too long.

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Originally posted by Me

Hello!

I also have alot of stretchmarks along with keratosis pilaris that covers most of my body.Its kind of weird though because my skin is mostly soft it is not rough and bumpy like some people that have this annoying skin condition. I also would like to find out if there is some kind of connection between alot of the different things that happen to us.

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Originally posted by Rob

No, I really couldn't tell you for sure if KPRF and dandruff are related or not. All I know is that I started having dandruff problems at almost the exact same time I got KPRF(never had it before that).

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Originally posted by Rachel

I always seems to have at least one bruise on my body, but I think it is probably my fault since I always seem to bump myself! :-) I have oily skin (NEVER DRY) and I need to have at least one shower a day, but then again this might just be normal for some teenagers. But my nails are really bad... every single one of them is chipped at the ends and seem to be breaking in the middle. I think this could be just me though, because my sister has KP and her nails are extremely strong and never seem to break. Maybe I have an iron deficiency???
My hair is pretty thin, and it has been bleached, but I don't think that thick hair runs in our family.(It has got me thinking though). I don't have stretch marks.
Emily, you may be right, but I still don't think we should all jump to conclusions that KP is the reason for all our physical problems.