Hi my son has been diagnosed here in the UK as having kp and kpf. I did not know what this was until we went to see a derm, my son had a meeting with 6 dr from all over uk at a dermatologist meeting. They all agreed it was kpf and kp but said he would have it always! however it may improve in adulthood and he hadn't seen many oldies with it!! However he gave me no creams or potions and told me to leave alone as these are no good and exfoliating only deepens the redness and if excessive can lead to scaring. In other words tough! You got it live with it.
I have done nothing for all his 7 years but his face and skin only improve when he has a suntan when on our family holiday. I have joined this web site to see if any one else has just left it to nature and has seen an inprovement or wether it is best to hydrate the skin?
My sons kpf is real bad its very red and bobbly on eyebrows,chin,sideburns, top of lips and forhead.ears!! on his body arm,legs,
chest, back. he has been in school 3years and if anyone ask he says its eczma everyone buys this and as its commen no one has ever made a comment he has lots of friends.
does anyone else have it bad on face only my sons eyebrows are very sparse do they grow as you get older he also says they sting somtimes if he sweats or I put sunblock on. anyones comments would be great
another concerned mum!!

Hi, I have the same condition as your son but I am a bit older! My 11 year is also showing the first signs of it. I know from doing previous searches on the net that their is a team of Dr's in Cardiff Wales who have done significants tests using Pulse Dye Lasers on patients with these mix of conditions. I haven't got the article at hand but it appears in a website

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/sadhelp/kp.htm

If it was me I would contact the Dr's involved by phone, or letter and ask for advise. All the best

Hi,

I'm from the UK and my daughter has exactly the same symptoms as your son...just posted on UO site. My daughter is 13 and has suffered from this since age 2 when we were told it was ezcema. When we finally saw a derm they said showed us pictures in the medical manual and my daughters was far worse. She has since been photoed and studied by the whole depatment.Take a peek at my post...be good to keep in touch. I am planning to appeal against NHS decision re laser treatment and could really do with some support.

Collie,

Your son has Ulerythema ophryogenes (UO). It's a more specific form of KP and KPRF. KP affects the arms, legs and so forth. KPRF affects all that plus the Face/Cheeks. UO affects all the previous AND the eyebrows being sparse and red. The eyebrows can be red, itchy, crusty, dry, and have little bumps on the base of the folical. Come on over to the UO forum and see us. There are a few there, some reply, some lurk like me for a year until I just couldn't beat this thing and got frustrated, needing help from others. Anne has great posts and checks/replies often. Others have good posts here and there and come and go for months.

Redbrow

My son, who is 14, also has sparse eyebrows due to kpf. He has felt bad about it since middle school when kids started asking him why he doesn't have any eyebrows. He is ready to enter high school next week and I know that it is on his mind. He also hates his red face. I have been to many dermatologists and nothing seems to help. The last one told me and him that he needs to live with it. We are trying the retin micron A which we did about 6 years ago. It did seem to help the smoothness and redness of the cheeks the last time. And also elidel.

I remember those days...sad to see that after 20 years the comments haven't changed. He'll hopefully shrug them off as superficial and not friends that he really wants to have around. I found many friends that didn't care about how I looked.

Did you ever do any treatment in your teens? Did your eyebrows get worse or stay the same? I am thinking of going to a naturopath. It can't hurt.

lelbaz...my son is 17 and sounds like we have a lot in common..I have to run our now, but I will answer any of your questions.....Robin

Never did anything in my teens. Only started now in my 30's which is probably too late.