Tanning helps a lot, especially natural suntanning. Combined with steam baths, you can have silky-smooth skin. Alas! Neither the sun nor the steam is accessible to all.

I've been naturally tanning for the past few days (Since its summer break for me) and I've noticed that they are clearing up a little.

Nothing has worked for me EXCEPT tanning, but I have to go at least twice a week in order for it to improve. When I got pregnant, I quit tanning and both my arms and legs look just nasty again.

yeay!

I spent an entire day at a lake with my bathing suit hoping to expose as much skin to the sun as possible, with protection of course, because i had been inside all summer and didn't see much sun. But because of this, my kp was intolerable. It made me cringe to look at it. But after only about 6-7 hours in the sun in the water with sunblock, my kp has cleared up a good deal. The scars from picking still remain, but that was on sunday, and today is thursday, and i haven't been able to find any, only one or two, bumps to pick at all and my arm is smooth to the touch as well. I had tried the coconut oil treatment that some people had been talking about, but it didn't work as well as i had hoped. Then again, i can't shower every day so that may have had something to do with it. I had also had some trouble with them getting infected and scabbing, but after sunday at the lake, the scabs pretty much healed too. My mom has told me about tanning, and if one day at the lake could heal I have very high hopes for the tanning salon. It never hurts to have some color ehy? :P

It didn't help me at all... except in appearance. It was less noticeable, but still there as much as ever!

I just come out more freckled. Everyone says I have to build up to a tan and I say yeah, soon I will be one big freckle if I keep this up! So I always stop after a couple of weeks. But for some reason I try again every summer. I burn very easily. Is there anyone else out there like me? Did you eventually build up to a real tan?

Tanning helped me alot. It def. helped with the disocloration and the softness of my skin, but also the lotion I used to speed up the tanning process made my skin really soft. It's called Tan Max by Hawain Tropic.

When I tan, the darker complexion hides the flaws. But once the tan wears off the skin is damaged and worse-looking.

I should have found this thread before I posted...
Yes, it has helped me. Redness AND bumps.... I've just started going to a tanning salon... I wonder whether picking at them for years has already increased my chances of some kind of skin cancer anyway... who knows... They say that 1 in 3 of us will get it anyway. So I'm going to stick with the tanning for the meantime... but not too much...

This is my 1st post on the KP forum and have read a lot of threads on this issue. I have tried almost everything on this forum (coconut oil, BBW Euclyptus Lotion, KP Duty, Pumice, etc) and tanning was my last resort.

I actually only went tanning to get a little color for my beach vacation and miracously, 2 days later, my KP cleared up 95%! I couldn't believe it..and just in time too for vacation. I went for about 7 minutes and at first didn't really see results but sure enough, on day of vacation, my upper arms and back had completely cleared. Only a few random bumps on forearms but hardly noticable. Redness was never a big issue for me, but what little redness I had was gone too. Wish I had the foresight to take before and after pics to show everyone the improvement but at that point in time, I had just about given up hope that KP would improve.

Anyways, I KNOW tanning isn't the best solution, but I plan on going once a month (last time I went was early Aug and KP is now 90% gone) for about 6/7 minutes.

Just wanted to give my experience to others who like me are desperate for solution/or least a quick fix.

I agree that tanning really just covers the KP. I am a distance runner and in the summer, I typically run in a sports bra and a pair of shorts, so my arms get a light tan. It covers the KP during the summer, but sure enough when winter comes and the tan fades, all of the redness comes back. In terms of the bumpiness, I find improvment in my KP every summer. I think that it is simply because [where I live] there is more humidity in the air and my skin isn't as dry so the KP improves. It is, afterall, a disease of dry skin. Again, every winter, the KP worsens.

In terms of the transformation of vitamin D in the skin via the sun, this is true, but it really has nothing to do with the condition of the skin. The major of role of vitamin D is calcium absorption (that's why milk is fortified with vitamin D). The vitamin D is in an inactive form and it needs to be changed into the active form and one [the middle step of 3, I believe] of these steps is done in the skin. It is not made from cholesterol.

I haven't read anything about this, but I use copious amounts of sun block (I still end up getting a moderate tan). I am worried that since I already have this existing skin condition about it increasing my risk of getting skin cancer. Melanoma is a nasty cancer that I would like to avoid. You have to weigh the true risks and benefits of tanning then. I am inclined to agree that fake tan is better, especially since they have come out with the Dove and Jergens versions that darken gradually with everyday use.

I don't know anything about the sun lamps prescribed to SAD sufferers. That is an excellent question though. You should try to google seasonal affective disorder. I don't think that there will really be any good UV ray. Currently UVA and UVB have been condemned and I am sure that in the future this list will grow as more research is conducted.

Hope this gives you some insight!
Trac

hi all i haven't visited for a while however i hope that this helps
I find that a combination of things help my condition loads.
Mild tanning - usually once a week or one every other week
Exfoliating and moisturing after showers - i use Neotorgena comfrot balm - best stuff ever !
Rubbing pure vitamin e oil into my arms ( i get the from Holland and Barrat v. reasonable)
all of these things have improved my condition to the point that it has almost cleared up. i stopped following this for a couple of weeks just to confirm that it was this routine that was helping and hey presto it reappeared ! i also find that certain foods and alcohol cause 'flare ups' especially Beer :-(
Unfortunatley i still have some scarring however i know this will fade over time.
hope this helps someone - none of these are overly difficult to follow just need to incorporate into a routine and get uised to it.

I inherited my keratosis from my mother along with icthyosis on both shins.
I have never found any thing to alter it including sun exposure. As a Celtic skin person , I don't really tan anyway. I would definitely not reccomend anyone to tan to get rid of Keratosis- you won't die of keratosis but melanoma is a different kettle of fish and a fair skinned freckly like me is top of the list as a victim.
I recently read about a treatment for keratosis in the Sunday Times (UK) . The physiscian recommended a combination of Neem oil Soap and a cream called SurgiSalve from Marble Hill Naturally in Ireland.
It has really smoothed out my skin on my arms, (forearms and backs of my upper arms ) and left my thighs smooth and soft, although it hasn't taken away the little spotty reddish/bluish marks on my legs. My husband even commented on how soft and smooth my skin has got.
I hope this is helpful, but either way I definately wouldn't chance tanning, for someone with my complexion it would be too risky.

I looked at photos the other day & seeing my legs out in short shorts was like a stab to my heart - in each & every one of them my legs are tanned, I have a feeling that more people don't realise they have KP because they stay tanned. I am also seriously weighing up starting to tan for 10 minutes at a time because I can remember it helping, yes it's been a couple of years since I have bared my legs to other eyes in daylight, but I don't want to get skin cancer & think that I have caused this upon myself :-( It just seems unfair that we should have to face such a decision doesn't it!!!

Tanning has helped my condition a bit. It has definately masked my KP so that it is less noticible, but has also gotten rid of some of the larger bumps that I was starting to develop. The only trouble that I have had is with tingle lotion. I started using tingle about 8 mos ago and all was fine for a while. I was getting a much darker tan that lasted longer and only had to deal with the normal tingle side effects. The last 3 times that I have tanned though, I have developed a very serious itch all over my body that lasted for hours. Along with this, my KP bumps were swelling up and breaking out all over my arms and legs. I do plan to continue tanning, as it has helped, but needless to say I will no longer be using the tingle lotion.