Keratosis pilaris atrophicans is a broad term that covers a group of the Atrophicans medical conditions associated with KP (namely atrophoderma vermiculatum, ulerythema ophryogenes, keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans and keratosis pilaris atrophicans faciei). To put it simply, all of these different skin conditions are basically lumped together and referred to as keratosis pilaris atrophicans for simplification.
Keratosis pilaris atrophicans is essentially a specific type of KP that is a somewhat rare genetic skin disorder which affects the hair follicles differently then standard KP does. It tends to affect the eyebrow and eye line areas, sometimes spreading up across the forehead or down to the cheeks and lower face.
One of the unique things about this type of keratosis pilaris is that it is almost always found exclusively in children, starting as soon as just weeks or months after birth. Although this condition can be found in some adults, it’s primarily found in children, sometimes getting worse through their early childhood years. There is a silver lining though, as most children and toddlers who have keratosis pilaris atrophicans tend to outgrow the condition during or after puberty.
While most children outgrow the condition and it’s symptoms during or after adolescence, they are normally still left with the sequelae (commonly referred to as KP scars) for the rest of their life. Scar healing and fading treatments might help this, although their is not yet any solid medical proof to this.
There is also a condition commonly known as keratosis pilaris rubra atrophicans faciei, which is really the same condition described above except for the bumpy areas of the skin are accompanied by redness.
Recently, an all natural treatment for keratosis pilaris has been getting a lot of national media attention. Many people are attributing their being KP free to this new system, which uses commonly available ingredients that can be bought at any grocery store. You can learn more about it here.