Reportedly half of the population is affected by keratosis pilaris. These small white bumps show up on the back of your upper arms, your legs, your buttocks and in some cases, your face. The bumps are not harmful, but are visually unattractive. It is the challenge of reducing and preventing the rash that makes keratosis pilaris such as challenge. Keratosis pilaris treatment includes special care for the affected area as well as selected creams and lotions for treatment.

Causes of Keratosis Pilaris

Before you can effectively treat the rash of raised bumps on your skin, you must understand what causes the condition. Keratosis pilaris is caused by a build-up of keratin on the skin. Keratin is a hard protein found within your skin that helps to protect you from infections and other dangers. The keratin builds up on the skin and clogs hair follicles as it creates a scaly plate. The condition can be exasperated by dead skin cells collecting over hair follicle as well.

The blocked follicles are usually hard bumps on the skin’s surface but inflamed areas can occur, especially surrounding the occasional ingrown hair. It might seem logical to simply remove the keratin build-up over the hair follicles to reduce the appearance of the rash and this is true to an extent. However, abrasive measures and “picking” at the bumps can lead to infection and certainly to inflammation of the sensitive skin. To remove keratin plugs, they must first be softened to become more pliable and gradually reduced and removed over time. The difficulty is that keratin is part of the body’s natural defense system and can be a challenging substance to breach.

Keratosis Pilaris Treatment

Treating keratosis pilaris requires a regiment skin care routine not far outside of your typical activities in the morning.