Disclaimer: This is meant for general skincare advice and sharing of knowledge. This is not medical advice.
Welcome back!
Today I want to do an in depth look into a common skin condition called keratosis pilaris. So the first question to answer is, “what is keratosis pilaris?”
Keratosis pilaris or KP has lot of different names. The most common slang term would be “chicken skin”. Yes, I have been asked this before. I suppose I can see the difference.
Keratosis essentially means scaly skin and pilaris means hair so the condition itself means scaly skin around hair follicles. As the picture shows it can be quite annoying and irritating at times. Most commonly found on the backs of arms (for you gym bros that means your triceps) and the tops of legs (aka quads) in typically young children and young adults. The great thing is that it mostly will go away by mid-20s and likely gone completely by your 30s. Most of the time this is fairly asymptomatic but can sometimes be itchy and irritating. The picture below depicts a more visual representation of this problem except its not just one hair follicle it is hundreds.
What causes Keratosis Pilaris?
Keratosis pilaris can be difficult to pinpoint a direct cause. Some theories suggest a genetic component has an effect on filaggrin. Filaggrin is a protein involved in the skin’s moisture barrier. In essence, filaggrin helps bind keratin to skin cells in order to form a tight and strong barrier. A mutation in this protein could possibly lead to keratin build up resulting in these pesky little bumps. Other theories suggest a correlation with eczema and dry skin conditions which again causes a build up of skin around the hair follicles. Some times these things can be chalked up to an idiopathic cause which is simply unknown. Either way, finding a cause can be frustrating but sometimes it is what it is. The fact remains that this problem exists for a lot of people and there are fortunately a lot of ways to fix it.