Weight is a factor

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Originally posted by VNC

I posted a comment about this, then learned how to search and saw everyone else's comments. I am now convinced that weight IS a factor. My weight has fluctuated from 120 - 200 pounds due to childbirth and just getting older. Any time I lost the weight and exercised regularly, I had NO KP at all. Maybe it's the exercise, or maybe it's the excess fat, but it is connected. Just had my 3rd baby and the weight is back on and I'm covered with bumps. I pick at them constantly and am scarred now as well. Being in the sun helps, but that causes cancer too, so you can't win. I am going to try to start hitting the gym again regularly. Thank you SO much for this website. I thought I was NUTS with these bumps. It also is NOT in my family. Didn't get them until in my late 20's after having children and gaining weight.

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Originally posted by ?

I am 5'7'' and weigh 130 pounds. I never read anything anywhere that says KP fluctuates due to weight. Why would it considering what causes KP?

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Originally posted by Look around

I have noticed that many overweight people have KP. I myself am slightly overweight and my KP has gotten worse over the years with the steady amount of weight I have gained. When I exercise and lose a little weight, the KP improves! I do think that weight may be an issue. Look around at some overweight people over the summer, you may notice what I have.

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Originally posted by Katie

I agree. I have gained weight due to having a child and have also been at my ideal weight....I have KP regardless. At my ideal weight I had it just as bad as when I was 20 pounds over weight after having my son. I do not feel that it makes an ounce of difference. The problem is with the skin and I do not see how your weight can trully make any difference.

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Originally posted by bb

I have been thin my entire life & have always had KP. Weight has nothing to do with it. You most likely notice KP more when you gain because you're probably not eating properly & eating bad will always cause your skin to look worse

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Originally posted by Chris

O.K., It looks like there is a lot of controversy over the weight factor. Since we have no real scientific standards to judge this, take it for what you will. I have had KP on my arms since puberty. But it was not untill I was about 19 that I started getting it in other places. First, it started on my upper thighs, then around my ankles. The only reason why it would be limited to these areas, it seems, is related to a change in the WAY I DRESSED. I grew up in LA, and would wear shorts pretty much year round, mostly with no shoes, almost never with socks. I am not sure the CAUSAL mechanism is for KP, but it seems related to the areas where clothing rubbed against my skin. That is, the more I wore socks the worse the KP got on my ankles, and the more I wore pants the worse it got on my upper thighs. As I got older, and began to put on some poundage, I also noticed more KP. Perhaps the relationship is less with weight, but has something to do with tightness of clothing associated with weight gain? I also noticed that the first place I got KP on my left arm was where I wore my watch. This may suggest that one of the drivers of KP is irritation caused by the rubbing of clothes.
I have noticed tons of people with KP on the back of their arms, but I have also noticed that people with more widespread KP do tend to be a tad bit overweight. Of course, the problem that we all face here is that part of being a human is having selective memory. I really wish that we could scientifically control for all of our speculations!! With up to 40% of the population of the US being affected for at least some part of their lives there has got to be some money to be made. I can't beleive that pharmaceutical companies could have no interest in finding effective treatments for it.

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Originally posted by Debra

Weight is factor for me, too. I didn't get KP until I was in my thirties and about 70 lbs overweight. I lost the weight and--voila!--no KP. After back surgery I put the weight back on and here's the KP again. I have also noticed that KP gets markedly better during my period. (I'm certain about this, because month after month I try to figure out which products were finally working, only to realize it was just my period). I'm not trying to speak for all of us, but given the number of posts concerning both weight gain and pregnancy, I think it's at least possible that weight and hormones play a part. Since dermatologists don't seem to have delved too deeply into this problem, let's not reject possibilities just because they don't fit everyone's picture of KP. Maybe "adult onset" KP in women is caused by different factors than for people who've had it all their lives. I can't say anything for sure, but neither can any of the dermatologists I've consulted.

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Originally posted by I have looked around...

and i see a lot of thin people with KP as well. you're all very lucky if losing weight is the trick for you. then you know the cure for yourself and you don't need to try all these products. unfortunately i would need to become anorexic if that's the cure since i'm already thin.

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Originally posted by Alex

i agree with you..i am also thin and have it.

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Originally posted by js

Weight may have something to do with it for some. It IS possible for it to be a factor for many and not all, just because you are thin and still have kp, doesn't mean that weight has nothing to do with it. It's a fact that with acne, what works for some, actually causes breakouts for others. Some people break out from oil, some people clear up from oil. . .same with kp, it's not the same for everyone. I recently gained weight and now all of a sudden I have kp. . .never had it before when i was much thinner!

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Originally posted by if so....

Then why are you on here ready to try laser treatments, etc. - anything to get rid of the KP you have. Why not lose weight? I wish it were that easy for me.

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Originally posted by I agree! That was callous!

"Why are you on here. . . . just lose weight" Do you believe in kharma? You may very easily be in a position one day soon where you find yourself a little over weight and see how far from "easy" it is to take it off! Your post made you sound really snotty.

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Originally posted by js

actually, I have been losing weight!
and you know what, it's not as easy as you think it is. I had a perfect body my whole life until I went to college and joined a sorority. All the drinking and pizza eating did me in. . .but now I'm losing and it's hard but I've already lost 15 pounds. I was saying that it's impossible to say "No, that is not a factor" when everyones body is different. There are several factors and there isn't anyone on this board who has THE answer yet. . .including you

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Originally posted by ok

i didn't mean it as a personal knock against js. who said that i am totally happy with my weight?!

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Originally posted by sorry

i honestly didn't mean it to sound the way you interpreted it. i admit if you can't hear my tone it probably does sound that way. i just meant that i am so desparate to find something that will really improve this **** and if i losing weight would do it for me, i would do that. i guess i just feel strongly that weight is not the issue in kp and i was trying to argue that if that was what is really causing your kp, then how come you are searching for something else to cure it. it's just a difference of opinion. i didn't mean it as a personal dig against you. i really am sorry.