Treating Keratosis Pilaris

I know, I know.  You’ve been on the edge of yur seat for days now.  “Just tell me what to do, already!” and here it is. The moment you’ve been waiting for.  The Treatment Lesson.

Treating KP is a bit of a trial-and-error process, but don’t let that discourage you.  Consider this like a journey, nay, a quest, to defeat the dreaded KP monster. And although we can’t say “Do these things and poof, KP will be vanquished for good”, we can give you the general outline for what you need to be doing to help treat your child’s KP.  You have to develop a “long-term plan” kind of mindset from the beginning or else you will get frustrated.  Trust me, we’ve been there.

Below you will find the best practices for treating KP.  It’s your starting point.  The nuances of all the different options inside of each of these points are outside the scope of this article, but fret not kpkids is here to exhaust every option to help as many KP sufferers as possible.

Without further ado…

1. Scrub-a-dub-dub

Hopefully you haven’t be dozing off during class so this will make sense.  Here’s the conundrum: washing your skin helps remove the dead skin cells and keratin that has built up (that’s what we want!)…BUT…bathing is also notorious for drying out the skin (big thumbs down).  The rest of the KP care we recommend hinges on this give and take. We are trying to skew the result more in our favor; more toward the removal of keratin and less toward the drying out.

Like we said last time, there is some heated debate about how frequent is optimal for bathing your kids.  Ok, “heated debate” may be a bit of a stretch. “Difference of opinion” may be more accurate. However, there is consistency in this: regular bathing is key to healthy skin.  If you take too many dips in the tub, you’re going to get more and more of the drying effect on your skin; too few, and you’ll be allowing the keratin to build up uninhibitedly. It seems like a good general guideline is bathing every other day.  We like the every other day routine–sometimes even the every three days routine–but find what works for you and stick to it. Obviously if your kid is covered in mud and it’s not bath day, give them a quick wash. Its not about being overly rigid. It’s about having an intentional game plan in place as a long term treatment solution.

Bath-time tips for Keratosis Pilaris

Here are a few more tips to tip the scales in your favor during bath time.  

Use a gentle soap. Traditional wisdom, or maybe just good marketing has said that you should clean your babies with Johnson & Johnson…mmmmm, maybe don’t.  You should also skip on the brightly colored, character branded bath washes.  We get it, they’re cheap and easy to get a hold of, but they aren’t good for KP. They will most likely exaggerate the drying out of the skin at bath time. Use something gentle and more “natural”. Fragrance free and dye free is a good start. Don’t freak out and think that you’re going to have to go out and spend a fortune of some handmade, hippie soap.  There are TONS of good options to KP parents, you just have to know where to look. We try to do the looking for you and connect you with others who are looking too. In our final lesson, we’ll present you with good options in different price ranges.

Keep bath time short and use cooler water.  It might be tough if your little guy loves to splash forever and ever, but if you start setting the routine and expectation that bath time needs to be shorter, they’ll adjust.  You could always do some water table play or some other time that doesn’t involve the entire body getting wet. Warm baths are great, but the warmer water has the potential to suck more and more moisture out of your skin.  And hey, if the bath is a little cooler, it might be easier to keep it quick.

Scrub-a-dub-dub. Emphasis on the scrub.  Normally dead skin cells slough off when you wash, but we need extra firepower in our situation.  So run to the hardware store and grab some sandpaper or steel wool. It’s business time. I’m kidding.  We have to find a way to gently coax that extra keratin to part ways with our skin.  Enter exfoliation. Exfoliation is merely finding a mild abrasive surface to disrupt the hold that keratin has to the nice healthy skin down below the surface.  There are tons of options out there, but we like to recommend scrubber mits or a naturally abrasive substance like salt or sugar (in a pasty scrub form). Whatever you choose just be sure to be gentle.  If you’re too aggressive, you’ll cause inflammation and that is the opposite of what we want. 

Next time we will go over the products that parents have found most helpful in the exfoliation battle, but something I wanted to go into more detail about was the scrub I mentioned.  A sugar scrub is something many people have found useful as an exfoliant and its super easy to make  yourself to try out. Plus, you can make it as “natural” as your heart desires so that you can feel good about what you’re using for your kiddos.  Check out this recipe.

2. Moisturize

Now here is the bread and butter.  Do you see the metaphor there? Don’t worry if you don’t get it.  It’s cheesy. Anyway. Back to the matter at hand. Remember, we are a mission with give and take.  The moisturizer is where you can continue to skew the equation toward more moisture in the skin.
Apply Often. Whatever moisturizer you choose, you have to use it multiple times a day.  You haveto apply your moisturizer multiple times a day. Make it part of the routine.  Morning and night is a great place to start. Applying after taking pjs off and before putting them back on is a good way to remind yourself.
Apply after bath time. Here’s the kicker: you must lotion up immediately after bath time. Like, just dried off, before you do anything else, immediately.  This allows you to trap in as much moisture as possible from bath time. Pairing that with the bedtime routine gives you the best chance for soaking in as much squishy goodness as possible while the little one sleeps.

What to choose? Products in this category are where you’re going to see the greatest variability and opinion when it comes to treating KP.  Just scan through our facebook group and you’ll quickly see that there are tons and tons of options out there from the simple and natural coconut oil to the high power prescription stuff.  And everyone gets a different result with each one. Frustrating. For sure. With this our plan is to give you some guiding principles and find the products that offer the best promise to help your fight against KP.  In general, the thicker, the better.

Ointments > Creams > Lotions.

In our products lesson we will go over the most popular (and by popular we mean most helpful to folks) moisturizer options out there.  This will be a good place to start, but just to prepare you: you’ll probably have to do a little trial and error to find the best option for your situation. Don’t let that worry you, that’s the method humans have been using for millennia to work out the best discoveries in history.  Consider yourself a among the greats of human history.

3. Sunscreen

We won’t go through this all again.  We sufficiently covered sunscreen last time (link), but since we are taking the time to reiterate the use of sunscreen you should consider it a big deal.  UV rays damage skin–there’s no question about it so protect yourself and your kids.

4. Reduce Irritants

If dryness is public enemy #1, then irritation/inflammation is #2.  Anything that irritates the skin will most likely exacerbate KP symptoms.  The most likely culprits are dyes and perfumes find in the products that we use that end up coming into contact with our skin.  Soaps, lotions, laundry detergents, etc are all prone to have extra stuff put in to to make it look pretty or smell yummy. The unfortunate side-effect is often skin irritation especially for folks who already have sensitive skin.  You’ll notice that the vast majority of the products that are used by families with KP are “natural”, perfume free, or dye free to try to eliminate the possibility of the product you’re using to make symptoms worse. Look at all the products you use on a regular basis and either switch to a different brand or find a ‘free and clear” version of your favorite stuff.  

Products that commonly have skin-irritating ingredients:

• soap/body wash
• lotion
• sunscreen
• laundry detergent

5. Keep Moisturizing

Yep, more.

6. Keep it up

Consistency is key.  As with any new treatment, you have to allow enough time for there to be an effect.  Parents so often will get frustrated with the KP battle and run out and buy a new lotion and try it for a few days and when they don’t see any improvement they throw it away in anger and leave a nasty Amazon review.  Don’t be that guy.  Develop your routine and try it out for 4 (even up to 6) weeks (without changing anything) before you go back to the drawing board.  And even then, don’t do a complete overhaul of the plan.  Try to pick one aspect of the treatment regimen (most likely your moisturizer) you want to change and try that for another 4-6 week cycle.  Then, Lather…rinse…repeat.  We said at the beginning that you needed a long-term mindset didn’t we?

Conclusion

Treating KP is tough, but start with these things.  Make adjustments along the way.  You’ll see improvement.

To Recap

Start with:

• bathing every 2-3 days–gentle soaps, shorter times, cooler water
• moisturizing–multiple times per day, especially after baths
• using sunscreen anytime you’ll be outdoors
• reducing irritating ingredients
• more moisturizing
• sticking with the plan

Homework

Write down your treatment plan.  Maybe even consider putting it up somewhere where you’ll see it often as a way to remind yourself.  Make sure you write down when you started your new routine so that you’ll know for sure you’ve given it enough time to take effect.

 

Next, check out what products we recommend.

Or head back to the starting page.

 

Back to the Start
Introduction…Cause and Presentation…What Not to Do…Treatment…Recommended Products