ok---I've been hanging around this group reading posts for 8 months now. Keeping silent...no more. Several things I want to say. Ist...for those of you who try something new ie. lotion, soap etc. and post that it is a cure after you have used it for only a few days and then disappear from these pages with out further updates....shame on you. Don't you realize desparate moms like me hang on to every word and log on day and night to receive updates? I'm guessing the product stopped working and you were too quick to call it a cure and realize how many moms rushed out and spent yet more money on a false hope due to your rushed advise. Shame on you. Everyone is different. A product needs to be used 2-3 months before you can come to ANY conclusion. There is no fast easy cure. We ALL know that. 2nd.... those of you who sell a product and push it here to desparate moms....really, shame on you. This is no place for you. Your bottom line is PROFIT. Period. And you know it.

My daughter developed a severe case of kp on her arms, legs and face at 14 months. Her Ped said use Dove soap and a light moisturizer and it most likely will slowly fade away. If only I had listened! After buying every and I mean EVERY product I've read about and spending $80.00 on a derm that took less than 30 seconds with her and said nothing can be done...I decided to listen to my pediatrician...after all he sees it all the time.

To make this very long story as short as possible. In August 2006 after trying product after product... the kp was worse than ever. So I stopped everything except washing her face and body with Dove Nutrium (bar) soap. After baths...and only ONCE a day lightly apply Dove Intensive Nourishing Lotion (with Vitamins A,E, B5) to her arms and legs and very lightly apply Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel to her face ONCE a day. Also very important....my ped did prescribe Hydrocortisone Valerate Cream USP 0.2% (Westcort Cream---brand name). for occasional use. It works wonders! When her face was really bad, I would apply a very light coat once every other day. (Cannot stress enough....a VERY THIN APPLICATION...using too much makes it worse). Ped assured me occasional use like that would not do any harm. And I trust him...because he stressed OCCASIONAL use. (I talked with his nurses and they also re-assured me). This combination of treatment including use of the hydro cream....took 3 full months to see much of any results, but now after 8 months...her kp is 90% gone. All but gone on her arms and legs, just a few bumps left on her face.

So, whether it was my regimen....time...prayers....luck....weather.. whatever, my advise it to STOP all the oils, soaps, lotions and find a simple plan....stick with it. It worked for me......not 100% cure, but so much better. I am 100% convinced all the treatment, creams and lotions MAKE IT WORSE! Simple, moms.....keep it simple and give it time.

I waited several months to post my results, so I can say I am confident to make these suggestions. I'm not saying it will work for everyone...I know it won't. But it may help some. And for all I know maybe weather plays a part...maybe this summer it will come back again.

One last thing...I do not want pictures of my daughter floating all over the internet, so those of you who would like to see for yourselves....email me personally and I will send before and now pictures to you. cyd33@aol.com please for subject just write " kp pictures".

Good luck and hang in there.

No one responded to this post, I assume because it makes no sense. You say:

but clearly your daughter's treatment included all of those things in a very complicated regimen:

So, that is self-contradicting and not "advice" at all.

However, it IS nothing short of retarded that people can't commit to one product for more than a month or so. Or even a couple weeks, for some people. You can read from their posts that they are totally impatient, or just scatterbrained and can't focus on anything. Or they don't actually want treatment - they just want to be normal and have clear skin for "free" like normal people do.

I understand that. KP is a disfiguring disease that can make you wish you'd never been born.

But people with KP are very accustomed to having ugly skin that they don't have to do anything about. They can try something for a few weeks, then pan it with, "This stuff doesn't work!" and then go back to sulking and hating their skin and doing nothing.

KP is torture, but it is also laziness.

Clear skin is hard WORK. You have to commit to it and understand that you will be incorporating a lifestyle change, or applying something to your skin every single day, until you die. At the very least, you have to use a product consistently for at least a few months before you are allowed to say it doesn't work. KP means that you have to work hard to get what other people get for free and take for granted, and that can be hard to accept.

One of the biggest obstacles to KP treatment is the *people* themselves, and I don't know if they can be talked out of their "doom and gloom" attitude and behavior. I have tried and tried, but even I am giving up now.

It's tempting to shame those who don't share their successes, but I understand why people take their cures and just ride off into the sunset. I think they know that there is no point in trying to change people's minds or help them with their KP.

Maybe you should read posts more carefully before you reply. Complicated? My daughter's regime was anything but complicated. Soap and lotion....an occasional light application of hydro cream? Is that too complicated for you? Sorry, but there is not much complicated about that. A pretty common daily routine for most people with or without kp. You obviously missed the point, dear Torquoise.....using several combinations of oils, lotions and soaps...not sticking to one routine for a period of time...did make my daughter's kp worse. How does that not make sense? It's a fact. Once I simplified the routine...sticking to one soap and one lotion for her face and one lotion for the rest of her (and most people do use a different lotion on their face as for the rest of their body).....the kp improved tremendously!

Anyway, I never expected any replies....most posts here don't get replies. My main intension was to post something that actually worked for me after months of the same routine....the same, simple, uncomplicated routine. I thought that was one of the ideas behind this forum....if you are not interested in hearing about something that just might help your child's kp... what's the point?

If just one child is helped by my suggested "very complicated" soap and lotion routine......having to waste my time reading your stupid reply to my post will have made it all worth the while.

You've recommended three separate products that people may not even be able to find, especially if they are out of the US. And you did so right after saying that lotions and soaps were bad.

.. In the first post you said it had to be done daily. I would say that three products applied every day is a big commitment.

You're using a combination of three separate products including a lotion and a soap, while at the same time saying that combinations of lotions and soaps don't work. With explanation it's clear what you mean, but your initial post was contradictory and I am not surprised people could not make sense of it.
You can't say lotions and soaps make things "worse" and then say they are the solution. That *doesn't* make sense.
As for how complicated things are, I've tried to get people to use even a *single* product responsibly and stick with it over several months, and so far more than 90% have been unable to. I'm glad you've had success with this, but I doubt anyone will be able to follow through with it.

LauraKatie, I also would like to thank you for taking the time to post what has worked for your daughter. It's impossible to explain to people who are unfamiliar with KP how upsetting this totally non-life-threatening condition can be for a parent who's struggling to get a handle on how to deal with it. You feel so panicked and inadequate (and, when your kid gets old enough to become aware of the condition herself, it's heart-rending). I also would like to thank Turquoise for her extremely helpful thread about the acid-based stuff (can't remember the name). I just ordered some for myself a couple of days ago.

I have not participated on this board as regularly as many of you, but I would like to say that it's my impression that most people who post information here about some lotion or other treatment that has worked for them are doing so because they truly wish to help. It's exciting when something actually gets rid of the bumps, and people want to share the good news. The problem with this condition, as we all know, is that something can work FABULOUSLY . . . for a while. Then your skin will get accustomed to it and the bumps come back (at least in my experience). It's just relentless.

What is working for my daughter is washing her face with Neutrogena soap at night, using a face cloth, and immediately afterwards applying Neutrogena Skin Smoothing body lotion. In the mornings, I apply Lac-Hydrin to her face. Alternating the two creams seems to work, as the Lac-Hydrin didn't seem to be doing much of anything on its own any longer.

Thank you willy2988 and jimm!!! I really appreciate the positive replies! THANK YOU!!

LauraKatie-Thanks for your post. I am so glad that these products are working for your daughter. I am going to try the Dove lotion on my 6-yr-old son. Right now I am using Neutrogena bar soap on his back. I just started last week I am hoping for good results. Thanks again.

Just wanted to thank everyone who has e-mailed me....and to let you know I have a new e-mail address for anyone else who would like pictures
Laurakatiesmom@yahoo.com

Laura Katie:
Are you still out there?
Thanks for your post. I'm new here and trying to prevent my son's condition from getting worse. Have you tried Aveeno products? The Baby Lotion with the NAVY cap works great for dryness and bumps. I'm mostly concerned with the red face now. I haven't really put anything on it - because I'm afaraid it will get worse. Have you done any dietary adjustments that worked for you? This is my next step. Thanks!

Hi ehag!

I'm still here. As I said in my first post, I really hate it when someone posts a "cure" then disappears without any follow up. Well....I'm posting a follow up to my "cure". My daughter's kp had all but disappeared until the first warm spring day....her skin was clear, then we went to the park and played outside on the first nice day since winter (Michigan)...and out of nowhere, it was back. Not as bad as before, but it's back.

Funny thing, after a few nice days our weather returned to winter and the kp went away again. But, now that it is warm again...the kp is back.

I was under the impression that kp normally got better in the summer and worse in the winter??? My daughter was kp free all winter.

Anyway, regarding your question...I have in the past tired Aveeno, but did not have luck with it. I think diet may hold some answers. The more I research kp the more I'm becoming interested that vitamin A may hold some clue in controlling it. Although, at this point I'm thinking for my daughter's sake I may just have to move to Alaska or the South Pole to control it .

Vitamin A is nothing to mess with, so I have just started giving her a multi-vitamin that is appropriate for her age, and trying to get her to drink a small amount of carrot juice each day. I can say that she has always liked carrots and sweet potatos and had always eaten lots of them until a few months ago she decided she liked beans and peas better, so she has been eating much less of the vit A veggies than normal for her....maybe a connection? I don't know....

I plan to continue with her dove soap and light moisturizer routine...I still believe simple and less is best....I will try to boost her vit A....just enough to make sure she gets all of the recommended daily amount allowed .

Mostly, I am so trying to relax about her kp.....I was so distraught about it last summer it nearly drove me crazy. I cannot and will not be so driven to "fix" her kp....I believe time will heal her. Last summer she had it everywhere......both legs, both arms and face. When it returned a few weeks ago, it returned on one arm and her face....so I believe it is playing itself out and it's a matter of time and it will be gone. I need to concentrate and be grateful that I have a beautiful, healthy daughter.....and if kp is the only medical problem I have to deal with.....then I thank God.

Take care and thanks for writing.
---Laura Katie's Mom

wow. you sound pretty...um... hostile about this. Turquois is a very methodical, rational and thorough researcher into curing her own adult KP. While her reply may be hard to hear personally, I read it as that she is striving for clarity and that she agrees with you that many of us don't stick to one simple regimen long enough to see what works. she _was_ trying to empathize with you.
I'm really glad you found something that works for your child.