Hi

My daughter has always had KP on upper arms but we only recently had the diagnosis. The doctor gave us a precription for aqueous cream which she puts on after a bath every other day (we don't use any products in the bath) and which seems to be helping. I thought I would buy her a bath mitt for exfoliating having read some of the posts here.

She has now developed KP on her face and I am less clear what to do. The cream from the doctor seemed to irritate her face. Should she be exfoliating her facial skin? Or should I be concentrating on keeping it well moisturised? Am also a little confused as don't know whether she has also reached an age where she may start to get pimples anyway.

By chance she used to take acidophilus for a stomach problem which has now gone but have read that some people use it for KP. Why?

I am very keen to keep the treatment as simple as possible. Her KP sounds pretty mild compared with other postings on the site. But do want to sort before she reaches teens.

Thanks for any thoughts

HI Ruthie:

Welcome to the community!

You can browse our Parent's Corner forum and hopefully you'll get an answer there. Please don't hesitate to ask or post.
Many people have posted similar questions.

About the acidophilus:
They use it for KP because some theories link KP with Candida (fungi) infections and other microorganisms. Acidophilus is one of 2 species of microorganisms found in yogurt that help to populate and maintain normal microflora in our body.

The body needs to be populated by non-pathogenic microorganisms (organisms that does not cause illness) so they can occupy the "space" that is available in the body. If they are affected or eliminated (when taking antibiotics, temp changes, pH, etc.) sometimes this space becomes full of pathogenic bacteria and causes illness.

P.S. Sorry for my English.

Ruthie,

DO NOT EXFOLIATE HER FACE! I find that exfoliation seems to worsen the KP. I have some KP on my the sides of my face and Olay Regenerist cream seems to help smooth it out! I've been using it for three weeks now just to curb premature aging, but it's doing wonders for smoothing out the KP. I'm extremely shocked! I also use Freeman Pineapple Enzyme Mask that you can get from any good drug store. I think both these methods are fairly gentle, so it shouldn't be a problem for your 9-year old daughter. Good luck!

My daughter had itchy skin and small bumps all over her back. I took apple cider vinegar (not distilled white vinegar) on a cotton ball and rubbed it over the worst areas on her back. Within a few days small scabs formed and the bumps healed and went away. I tried it on my own legs and it did not seem to help (but I only did it twice). It was cheap and painless so it's worth the try. ( I would also like to mention that she had this condition for 6 months or so with all other types of prescription and nonprescription creams applied, none had any effects.)

Thanks for these ideas. And particularly for warning us off exfoliation - I didn't think this could be a good idea for a 9 year old but there are so many ideas floating around...

I just thought I'd share what we have done.

We have now been using a new cream for about 10 days and have noticed a huge improvement - not yet totally gone but am assuming that these things take at least a couple of weeks anyway. The cream is made by eucerin and is specifically for the face. It's enough of an improvement that my daughter has cheered up about the whole thing.

I have also bought a natural cream made by Aveeno which I hope we can start using once this bad patch is dealt with.

If you're in the UK - Neal's Yard customer services were also really helpful and recommended calendula and oat lotion - just to be clear - they weren't saying this was a treatment for keratosis pilaris - just that it is one of their products for sensitive, dry facial skin with some sort of condition. But it does sound useful.

Hi Ruthie,

I am new to this forum today, but I was so excited I couldn't hold this information to myself.

I have an 11 year old son who was recently diagnosed with KP as well. Same situation as yours; he has it on his arms and has developed it on his face. I have been dealing with this issue for the last year not knowing what it was. Using benedryl cream upon flareups per several doctors advise because they thought it was "just a rash" or eczema. His pediatrician had precribed a cream for him, but we had no success with the cream.

I took him to a dermatologist who finally diagnosed him with KP, but he just told me to use Eucerin Plus or AM Lactin lotion. After trying those expensive treatments, I was even more dissapointed.

Last night I went to Walmart and got him some yes, gentle exfoliating pads made by Aveeno with moisture-rich soy extracts around $10.00, then I went to GNC and picked up a jar of Extra-Virgin Organic Coconut Oil around $10.30 (w/membership) $12.99 (w/out). You can get it online as well at GNC: Vitamins, Supplements, Minerals, Herbs, Sports Nutrition, Diet & Energy and more It's so gentle and pure that you can eat it...literally! Do not refrigerate as it will harden (learned that one this morning). Keep it at room temperature.

I had him wash his face witht the pads and then put the coconut oil on him and left it overnight. I am sooooo relieved to report that for the first time in a year, my son woke up this morning and his symptoms are virtually gone! I can't tell you what a relief this was to us! His rough, red, hard, bumpy skin is no longer rough or hard...at all, and there is only a very small trace of redness and tiny bumps left. I had him do the same thing this morning and put the coconut oil with a little bit of water on my hands so it wouldn't be so thick. I think I will leave the exfoliating part only for when he takes a shower. I bought a jar of cucumber cleansing cream for him to cleanse with at night before bed. I will keep using the coconut oil day and night though.

Anyway, I would atleast give it a try. And if it doesn't work, you can always keep the Aveeno pads to use for yourself and GNC will accept the return of the cococut oil for up to 30 days.

I only hope it works for your precious one as it did for mine. Good luck and best regards!

Hi