keratosis polaris goes by many names
some people call it chicken skin some
people call it lichen polaris strawberry
skin uh follicular keratosis and it is
extremely common in fact it's one of the
most common skin conditions in the world
it affects up to 80 percent of kids and
up to 40
of adults so in today's video i'm going
to talk about what it is and how to
treat it but first if you're new to
diane and the pink my name is diana i'm
a physician assistant and i specialize
in women's health and gynecology you are
watching in the pink and if you're new
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now before i jump into this video i'd
really like to hear from you so let me
know in the comment section what is the
best way that you have found to treat
your keratosis polaris so far and if you
haven't really done anything yet to try
to help put that in the comment section
below too it helps me to know where you
are coming from as a viewer so first off
keratosis polaris also called kp
is a skin condition that appears as tiny
reddish bumps on the arms and the thighs
and also the cheeks these little bumps
are called papules and they can be
scattered around or grouped together in
a specific area on the skin and what it
is is it's a buildup of skin cells
inside the hair follicles and then these
skin cells accumulate to form these tiny
red bumps okay so why do people get
keratosis polaris honestly the cause is
not entirely known but a mutation in a
protein called flagrant has been
associated with it filagrin is a protein
that plays a role in creating a more
efficient skin barrier so if you have a
disruption in this protein it's thought
to lead to a formation of plugs in the
hair follicle which manifests as these
reddish papules or red bumps it can be
inherited as well but not all parents
with kp or keratosis polaris will have
kids with kp it really varies and there
are many factors that can affect its
appearance so who gets kp it's often
seen in children and in teenagers and as
they grow older keratosis polaris often
improves on its own both boys and girls
can get it but we tend to see it more
often in girls it can also be more
apparent during pregnancy and we see it
more often in people with other skin
conditions like atopic dermatitis or
eczema because these are conditions that
make the skin more dry which also tends
to exacerbate kp also cold weather and
rough clothing might worsen it there
also seems to be an association with
type 1 diabetes and obesity now just to
clarify if you have kp this doesn't
necessarily mean you're going to develop
diabetes it just means that we tend to
see kp a little more often in diabetics
and obese kids and also adolescents now
besides the appearance there really
isn't any other major symptoms sometimes
it can be a little bit itchy but it's
not painful and it doesn't lead to more
serious conditions and it won't scar but
it is difficult to treat and there
really isn't a cure now some people do
you know kind of grow out of it
at some point in adulthood but not
always but if you do want to be
proactive on controlling keratosis
polars there are definitely some things
that you can do to help so let's go over
that right now so like i mentioned
keratosis polaris alone is not a serious
skin disorder and definitely can be
managed at home home-based treatments
are focused on preventing dry skin which
as i mentioned earlier really can
exacerbate keratosis polaris so let's
start with some basic daily habits that
you can work into your routine that can
help so the american academy of
dermatology association recommends some
simple shower habits to prevent dry skin
so first off instead of hot showers or
baths use warm or cooler water hot water
can strip your skin of your natural oils
and really does dry you out keep your
shower shorter try to limit your time in
the shower to like 10 minutes or less
use a gentle or a mild soap and if you
aren't sure if it is just check the
label and make sure there aren't any
added alcohols or fragrances it also
helps to gently exfoliate while you're
in the shower and i really want to
emphasize gently so you can use like a
loofah or a washcloth but don't scrub
your skin aggressively because that can
actually irritate your skin even more
another thing you can do is use a
humidifier especially if you live in a
drier climate also avoid really tight
clothing that creates friction when you
move now if these precautions don't work
well for you you can try a variety of
products called emollients most people
just call these moisturizers the best
thing that you can do is right after you
get out of the shower pat yourself dry a
little but let the drier areas of your
body and where your keratosis polaris is
remain wet and then apply your
moisturizer so i hope that makes sense
so just you know pat dry a little bit
but anywhere where you have tend to have
really dry skin or where you have your
kp don't dry that leave that wet and
then apply your moisturizer this way it
helps to trap the moisture in your skin
the reason you want to do this is when
you dry your skin with a towel you're
actually absorbing some of that moisture
that your skin is acquired during your
shower you're pulling that moisture out
and away from your skin so you can
honestly just stay in the shower if
you'd like and then keep your
moisturizer in the shower do a quick pat
down in your less troublesome areas of
your body in terms of dryness and
keratosis polaris and then apply the
moisturizer to the damp skin and a great
product to use as an emollient after a
shower is cerave moisturizing cream you
can use this on your body and on your
face if you want but this method really
helps to trap the moisture in the next
step for treating kp is to use a type of
product called a keratolytic a
keratolytic basically breaks down the
outer drier part of the skin which would
help the inner layers to get more
moisture and they do a really great job
of dissolving the skin flakes and the
scales and then that helps your skin to
bind with moisture and using both a
moisturizer and a keratolytic alone can
vastly improve the texture and
appearance of your keratosis polaris
after several weeks of use so let's talk
more about three very good keratolytics
and then we can jump into the
over-the-counter products that do a
great job with helping to treat
keratosis polarity so these three
ingredients are
salicylic acid lactic acid also called
ammonium lactate and urea so salicylic
acid is really really good at getting
down into the pores and exfoliating it
lactic acid exfoliates and also hydrates
the skin and then urea in a
concentration less than 10 percent is a
good moisturizer but over 10 is great to
use because it acts as a keratolytic so
i'm going to get into the products that
contain one or more of these three
ingredients these definitely are not the
only really good products out there but
i'm talking about them only to help give
you a place to start when you're
deciding what to purchase so keep in
mind that not every product will work
for every person and some people might
actually have a little sensitivity to
some of these ingredients especially if
you tend to have really sensitive skin
so just something to be aware of so a
great product that contains salicylic
acid is called
survey sa the sa stands for salicylic
acid it also has a lactic acid in it
which helps to exfoliate your skin an
example of a product with urea in it is
eucerin with urea and it does a great
job and it also has lactic acid which is
nice but you have to read the label
because if you get this user in it will
do a great job as a moisturizer but the
urea concentration is only 5 and as i
mentioned earlier less than 10 percent
the urea will only moisturize so you
want to make sure to get this eucerin
with 30 urea and then this will do a
really great job to work as a
keratolytic to break down and chemically
exfoliate your skin finally a great
example of a product with lactic acid is
amlactin and it's a great product to
help break down that excess keratin and
the dead skin cells no there are a ton
of different treatments out there
different combinations of lactic acid
and the urea and the salicylic acid that
you can try but if you have a really
stubborn case i recommend that you
consult a dermatologist because they can
talk to you about a second line
treatment for keratosis polaris which is
retinoids retinoid or vitamin a speeds
up the rate of cell turnover and renewal
and it can also help with
the urethemia and the redness that's
associated with keratosis polaris just
be aware that the retinoids are not safe
to use if you're pregnant your
dermatologist might also prescribe a
topical steroid so topical steroids can
help reduce the redness and the
inflammation that a patient can
experience with keratosis polaris but
keep in mind that high potency steroid
creams in general should be avoided in
pregnancy as well now if none of these
therapies work and your keratosis
polaris seems to be getting worse
treatments like laser therapy can also
be done so laser therapy can do a great
job at removing the keratosis papules
and it's usually done by a dermatologist
in their clinic so hey if you liked
learning about keratosis polaris and
want to know more about women's health
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have any topics that you would like me
to talk about up next i'm going to link
to my video on how to help with stretch
marks so if you're wondering how to help
with stretch marks of any kind go ahead
and click on the link right here and i
will see you over there