My name is Kimberly and I live in Maryland with with husband and 2 year old son. My son has KP on his arms, legs and face but it appears mostly as goosebumps unless irritated then it's red. Our latest problem has been finding a sunscreen that doesn't irritate his skin. We used Baby Magic by Banana Boat last year but this year it really irritated his skin. We bought the Aveeno Baby Sunblock and it worked a little better but was still mildly irritating. Any suggestions on any other products to try? Thanks!

Hi Kimberly! I also am new to the boards and live in Maryland. Cheers,

-Kate!

Hello Kimberly and Kate! I am new to the boards as well and also live in Maryland. Nice to meet you both!

-Katie

I am new to this and have no idea who will read this. But here goes.

My son, now 18, has had kp for years. no doctor ever gave it this name -- we figured that out on our own through the internet. but what he has had, mostly on his upper arms, then in recent years all over his thighs (and he says his buttocks) and spreading onto his lower legs: rough goosebump-type skin, skin, bumps, many turning red, even with little pustules, like small hard pimples. His are (were) very red , very widespread, and very unattractive. Some doctors had said to us, Well it's just you, just your skin type, suggesting there was nothing to be done. And the topical creams doctors gave us (for this no-named condition they said he would mostly have to live with) did really nothing.

So I researched. As I understand it, the KP results from a flawed or incomplete attempt by the body to slough off dead skin. Instead of sloughing, the skin forms little hard plugs around the hair follicles. I finally came upon a site (American Osteopathy page or some such) that said scrubbing with a loufa or "buff puff" could help, as could the use of creams with alphy hydroxy or other things to cause some peeling.

So this is what my son did: For about a week, every other day, scrubbed affected area with one or both of these products: Clean & Clear Daily Scrub Pore by Johnson & Johnson, AND/OR Clean & Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser (has benzoyl peroxide). With the second one, he would use a Facial Buff, a gentle scrubber purchased at Long's (long's brand). He scrubbed rather hard, for a few minutes, all over his legs, though not to the point of causing abrasion. So that was every other day for a week or two.

Also, when convenient, as at bedtime, he applied Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Body Creme with Alpha Hydroxy. He hasn't done this much, as it is very greasy and rich and rather a mess to use except under old pajamas. This is to soften the hard spots and also to encourage peeling.

Results: In two weeks, the red bumps, pimples, and roughness are almost completely gone. It seems like a miracle. He still has a few bumps here and there, and he has a few slightly peely places (colorless, small spots where there used to be a red bump--they go away if moisturizer is applied.). As this treatment is a cure for the symptoms, not for the underlying process, he will continue to do this procedure to keep things under control.

But no more red, bumpy, pimply legs. His skin looks normal. I wish I had taken before and after pictures.

Now, please note: He is a teenager, a young man, not a baby. Such a treatment could be too rough for a young child. If somebody tries it on a young one, I would suggest proceeding very, very cautiously. Also, he did not use these products on his face, although all of them are in fact designed for the face. My son also has redness and a slight roughness on his cheeks, which I gather is also a kind of KP, but not enough to worry him. I am going to suggest that he try a gentle version of this treatment on his face, to see if he can get some improvement there as well.

What I think is interesting is that -- we tend to think we should handle skin "rashes" gently, as they represent an irritation of the skin that should not be made worse. However, in this case of KP (if indeed that's what my son has), the solution is really to scrub off the hard bumps, skin plugs, dead cells, etc., so that the skin then looks more like normal skin.

Good luck to anyone who tries this. I will be interested to know if anyone gets results.

KPmother in California

I also am looking for a good sunscreen for my 20 month old daughter with KP. Last summer, she primarily had it on her cheeks, but now has it on her arms and thighs and lightly on her lower legs and butt. I must say, I'm less bothered by it now even though it's worse. We just live with it. But when we were on vacation in January, the sun really helped to clear her up for about a week and then the sunscreens seemed to kick in and it got bumpy on her cheeks again. I'm glad to hear about successes in treating the body KP (thanks KPmother!) for older kids - I'm sure she'll do this when she gets older. For now, I mostly try to keep her face under control. We use Cetaphil moisturizer a few times a day. I'm going to buy the neutrogena soap tomorrow! Hope to hear from someone on a sunscreen......
Taliasmom

Here's a link. It's all natural antioxidant oils and zinc oxide, the only safe sunscreen out there according to studies. It works well, there's even one for babies. A bit pricey, but worth it.

http://www.uvnaturalusa.com/htm/products-sunscreen.asp

I absolutely love Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch sunblock. I'm very sensitive to sunscreen and just generally hate it, but this stuff is nice. It's oil free, non-irritating, and hasn't worsened my KP at all. Of course, I'm an adult, and I don't have kids so I don't know if there are special rules or whatever... but it says you can use it on babies over six months, and under six months if a doctor says it's okay. It's also a little pricey, but hey, kids are small, it will go a long way

Hi Kimberly, I too am new to this site. My son was just diagnosed with KP last week - he's 8 months old and a twin - his sister doesn't have any signs of it yet... We saw a Pediatric Dermatologist and she suggested Nutrogena Sensitive Skin Sunblock. It seems ok so far - it hasn't made his KP worse frm what I can tell...
-Stacey