How to get rid of those goose bumps on the back of your arms

Keratosis Pilaris is the medical term for those dreaded goosebumps on the back of your arms and in some cases thighs and calves.

KP is a genetic condition that appears as rough, red bumps on the skin – this resembles red goosebumps and chicken skin.

It is most commonly found on the back of the tops of arms, but can also affect tops of thighs and buttocks. This condition can be irritating and scratching seems to make it worse, this can cause scabs that result in scarring in extreme cases.

Help get rid of keratosis pilaris with these easy to do tips

This affects 40% of the population – 50 – 80% will affect adolescents and often appears in individuals when they are children, it is more common in women than men.

Keratosis Pilaris occurs when the body produces excess Keratin – a natural protein in the skin, the excess keratin surrounds and traps the hair follicles/pores, this causes hard plugs to form and cause the red dots that you see – this is known as Hyper-keritinization. Ingrown hairs can also result from the keratinized skin trapping the hair follicles and preventing the hair from growing out.

Many doctors will just dismiss this as a genetic cosmetic problem and regard it as untreatable but there are a few things that have shown to give results.

Collagen shots

Many of our customers find that drinking collagen shots helps to gradually improve the condition.

Retinoid creams

Retinoid (Vitamin A) creams have proved very effective as they have a normalising effect on the skin and speed up the rate at which skin cells shed. They also have a clearing effect on pores and discourage the blockage of dead skin cells. It may take a few weeks for changes to be seen and monitor for any irritation.

Lactic acid

Lactic acid is one of our favourite ingredients. An AHA derived from yogurt. There are several reasons I use it over other AHA’s such as glycolic acid but mostly because it has additional benefits to the skin, other than just exfoliation.As with Glycolic Acid and other AHA’s, Lactic Acid is a keratolytic agent. Which means it provides effective exfoliation. It works to dissolve the desmosomes (bonds) that hold keratinocytes (skin cells) together. This gentle but effective exfoliation is great for increasing cellular renewal. Helping to keep the texture of the stratum corneum smooth and even, thus reducing goosebumps effects.

Skin needling

Skin needling, is technique used to induce collagen production. It can actually increase collagen up to 40% with just one treatment. By creating a microtrauma on the skin it releases growth factors that promote scarless healing it also encourages the production of normal (woven) collagen rather than scar forming collagen by kicking in fibroblasts that thicken and tighten improving tone and texture dramatically. Many of our professional practitioners offer this practise. If you’d like us to put you in contact with a clinic in the UK please email us at [email protected].