09 December 2010

Do you have small red bumps on your upper arms?

Look at your arms and see if its similar to these photo's (source of the photo's: emedicine.medscape.com) :
That doesn't look very attractive huh? If your upper arms look similar to the pictures above you might have Keratosis Pilaris. (Kera... what o_O"?) Don't be afraid it's HARMLESS and you're not the only one who has it o.o, cuz I have it as well on my upper arms =/. I always get questions like, hey what are those tiny red dots on your arms? Click on read more below if you want to know more about it.

What is it?
It's called Keratosis Pilaris (KP), I will just name it KP in this blogpost. I never knew what it was when I was little. It is a harmless skin condition often referred to as "chicken skin". This can occur at a young age. Worldwide, KP affects 40-50% of the adult population. Many people with a dry skin has it. They are groups of small rough bumps which are most common on the upper arms and on the fronts of the thighs. It can also occur on your face, buttocks or at your back. Most of the people will confuse it with acne, I also thought it was acne at first =/. Source: helpforkp.com

KP occurs when the human body produces excess keratin, a natural protein in the skin. The excess keratin surrounds and entraps the hair follicles in the pore. Therefore you will get tiny red bumps. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratosis_pilaris

Dutch translation: Het is een storing in de rijping van de hoorncellen bij de haarzakjes. De haren groeien niet goed uit waardoor er kleine rode bultjes ontstaan ;)

What are the symptoms?
The skin feels rough or spiky. It looks a bit like goosebumps. Occasionally KP is itchy. Yes,Yes,Yes... I have all of these symptoms T_T" *sigh 

Can it get worse?
I was a little bit insecure about it when I was little, since it feels so rough and it looks a bit ugly with all those small red bumps. Especially during summer you will see it clearly when I'm wearing sleeveless clothes. But ah well, I got used to it and it's not so rough as it used to be now. KP tends to be worse during the winter or other times of low humidity when the skin dries out. However, it might be less visible during the summer.

Can it be cured?
No, it can't =(. However, you can use products which makes it less rough. I often read that products with glycolic acid, lactic acid works and products with Vitamin A helps. 

What did I use to make my arms smoother?
I'm scrubbing my arms during shower with a salt scrub (grapefruit) which I bought at a Dutch drugstore. I'm using this almost a year now and it made my arms smoother, less rough ^_^! I will write a review about it very soon, so stay tuned! Small tips: Don't shower with extremely hot water, cuz it will make it even more dry and it's important to apply a body lotion after you showered ;) Hope this blogpost helped ^_^!
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17 comments

  1. my bf has this or something very similar! i'm glad you wrote this informative medical post :) it was really interesting to read and no worries. you're special and i don't find it weird to look at after a while at all. hopefully they will find something to reduce symptoms soon!

    <3 angie
    Pandaphilia

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  2. i have this on the back of my upper arms and lower calves :( it isn't too bad but I made it worse b/c I pick at the bumps >< My mom said she had them when she was younger but they went away after she had a baby?!

    but yes...I used to be pretty self conscious about my kp :(

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  3. i have this on my upper arms and lower part of the legs :( i'm like Elle, i pick at them :(
    my mom also said she had those when she was young but then they went away when she grows older...

    i'm gonna try the scrub and body lotion now...

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  4. Ik heb het ook! Maar maak me er nooit zo druk om. Het is vooral zichtbaar aan de achterkant, dus ik zie het zelf niet haha :'). Ik zal die zoutscrub ook eens uitproberen! Gewoonlijk scrub ik mezelf zachtjes met een puff of een washandje.

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  5. I have that too, my parents kept on saying that my skin is bad =.=

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  6. I have that before. I just cut my oil intake & applied lotion. But I just use lotion sometimes bec. I don't really like it. XD

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  7. Reply to all!

    @Angie, ahww thank youuu and I'm glad that you liked this post ^^

    @Elle and jennifer, ahhh I used to pick on it too lol =P but it's actually bad to do that. I've read it before that it would get worse =/ so I stopped doing that. But I'm glad to read that it will go away at an older age ^_^!

    @Marlique, jaaa je hoeft echt geen druk erom te maken ^^ Ik irriteerde me in het begin er echt aan, maar nu ben ik 't al gewend en vind het ook niet zo erg, heb er geen last van ^^ dus dats goed =)

    @dwagons, nooo ofcourse it's not bad!! It's very normal ;)

    @Jae Gibbs, you had it before, you don't have it anymore??

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  8. I have that on my calves! I noticed too that it's much better after exfoliating and then slathering a thick moisturiser over the top!

    KP sure is super common. I've seen loads of people with it...

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  9. it's common. nothing to worry about.. though i dont have it..

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  10. I've also seen many people with it, but many people feel insecure about it and think that they are the only one who has it =( and I don't want people to feel like that.. that's why i wrote this blogpost :)

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  11. @ Elisa, Yup, I don't have it anymore. =D maybe it's just part of adolescence? =D

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  12. i still have it nothing is happening my hair on my arm is just growing longer

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  13. I have the same bumps on my back near my shoulders and on my left arm, I was wodering what they were and this blog helped me alot so thanx!

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  14. Is it possible to get these bumps on your chest, not to far from your neck?

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  15. Eczema lotion makes it better for me

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