Hi,

I have only just recently been diagnosed with KP, due to food allergies that may have been the cause of the redness and bumps on the tops of my arms. The dermatologist that I saw recently reccommended a product called Akerat Lotion, and I was curious to know if there were other alternatives that I could use instead (it can be a topical treatment or another alternative).

It's just the redness and bumps have been a constant hassle due to people that I attend school with (I am a sixteen year old senior) being concerned as to whether or not they are cancerious or I just had a really bad sun tan.

If anyone has any feedback that they could give me it would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Canadiangurl101

P.S. I was wondering how others coped with wearing short sleeved tops and how they could either mask the redness or not make the bumps as well known?

hello,

im 16 yrs old too...it does suck to have this skin condition, especially when you're in your teens...but there's MUCH worse out there. i get sad about it sometimes, but it makes me, me. i hate my skin the most when people stare...it sucks because i'm always cautious when im wearing skirts to school...people are just mean. they try to be nice...i dont really blame them though . so how do you deal??? i just try to ignore them, get sad for a moment, and then get going with other stuff in life that's more important. it does sometimes make me feel like i'll get no where in life because of it, but i cant do anything about it . what do you do to treat your skin??? it's nice to find a teenager dealing with this skin stuff that many other people can't understand...ugh

get back to me soon

~LoveLife

Hey,

Yeah I get a lot of weird stares at school sometimes. I went to a dermatologist recently and he told me to get this Akerat Lotion- I only started using it about a week ago so I haven't had a miraculous recovery but the bumps themselves are a lot smoother. What you would use to apply the lotion onto your arms/wherever else the bumps are is a loofa so you scrubbing at them.

They do make me feel extremely self conscious so I either wear a jacket or a 3/4 sleeve top when I go to school because people are really immature about it and try to make a big deal out of it. Yeah it does bother me somtimes because I feel that I am limited to what I can wear without feeling like I am going to get harassed by someone. I have friends that care about me so I just try to stay as positive as I possibly can.

It was really nice to get a response from someone my age because it makes me feel like I am not the only person who has it, and it makes me feel better.

Your friend,

Canadiangurl101

I also dealt with the weird stares..and going to an all girls high school we had to wear skirts, so it was a double edged sword. when i was at school i would wear the uniform long sleeve polo shirt b/c it was pretty thin material so i didn't get hot. i still find myself wearing long sleeve shirts for a large portion of the year. and luckily there are lots of shirts out there that are thin material or even that type of layering where you can kinda see the tank top underneath, so you don't get hot, and are still covered up and comfortable.

I also wear make-up when i asbolutely have to wear short sleeves. I've been wearing Cover Girl since I was like 14 b/c it matches my skin tone and its cheap...but I know that at cosmetic stores they have special make-up that is for covering up large portions of the body, is water proof, and doesn't rub off.

plus, there are tons of treatments all over this board..search around and experiment. it sounds like you need to be watching what you eat and find out what foods are causing the redness and that might clear it up quick.

heyy Canadiangurl101,

my doctor always said i had dry skin and that was it...i'd have to live with it for the rest of my life and there wasn't much to do about it. she never even recommended me to go to a dermatologist >:/. recently my mom actually searched for my kind of skin and she found kp, which matches perfectly to what i have. i know this may not sound exciting, but i'm happy to know there's a name for the type of skin i have...now i can actually tell someone what it's called. instead of just saying that it's dry skin...tons of people have dry skin.

i've tried many lotions but none seem to make the red spots got away. ugh, i hate them. anyways, that cream you mentioned sounds good, i'll give that a try. i just started to do "oil pulling"...i dunno some way to get toxins out of our bodies, i dunno:/. it's worth a try (you can google it). i'm gonna try that for a month. then i also started a few days ago putting coconut oil on and eucerin "plus: intensive repair body creme." i'm gonna try those for awhile too. i'm gettin nervous though b/c summers commin around...don't you hate that...not being excited for summer. anyways, if nothing helps, i'm gonna try this "vega" test...it will tell me what foods that don't help my skin...staying away from certain foods may make the red spots go away and make my skin softer. i know it sounds crazy but i just joined this communty internet thing, and so i've been reading some walls. this women talks about it. it sounds like it may work. it's like $90, but i'm gonna leave this for my last resort...(i can try to show you what wall to go to if you want to read more about this)

i'm a pretty positive person myself always lookin on the brightside of things i guess. i think i act pretty outgoing around people (depends on who they are)...but when i have time to think back about my skin, then i get annoyed. always coverin myself up, sometimes, i don't even care...and i just wear capris or skirts...people are just people. my friends are supportive though, and that makes life just, even better. i'm a pretty lucky person, considering all the other bad things in the world...

so, it was REALLY exciting to get a response from you!!!! it made me feel better too, to know that there's somebody my age who's dealing with this kind of lifestyle...so, other than the skin problem that we both and many others have, tell me something about ya!!! i'm into art and stuff...also, are you really a senior??? i'm only a sophmore.

sorry this is a kinda late response!

your friend,
LoveLife

I just turned 17. I'm done with school (thank god) but people still sometimes stare. To be honest it ****es me off a bit because don't they know that everyone isn't perfect? but i get over it. what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger i guess. besides when i get mad about my skin, i always tell myself that it could be worse. there's so many disorders that are a lot worse than KP.

when i was in school I NEVER EVER wore skirts or t shirts. i def understand how that feels. i would rather sweat to death than hear people laugh and make jokes about my skin. the funny thing is.. when summer came around and school was out, i used to wear halter tops and tube tops because i discovered tanning. tanning helps me out now. i still don't know if ill ever be caught dead in a skirt, i would love to own a skirt but the KP on my legs is a lot worse than on my arms. maybe one day ill own the shortest skirt ever made haha.

hey everyone, I'm a 16 year old girl in highschool too. i hate this condition so much. I've been to the skin doctor, but i get the same responce, that theres no cure. Sometimes I dont believe that. Im really trying to find something out there to help me. My skin doctor gives me lotions that barely do anything. i am dreding the summer, and i always do, so i try as hard as i can to wear short sleeves to school. then people say " why do you always wear sweatshirts and long sleeves? " ughh, i hate this. if anything helps you, please let me know. i just recently bought some lotion and scrub someone talked about on here, its natural stuff, im praying it works ... :\

i try as hard as i can to wear long sleeves ***