Myths about keratosis pilaris

The way that the internet is, it seems that no matter what the subject or topic is, there are always tons of myths, half truths and outright wrong answers to people’s questions on many forums and message boards. While some people are genuinely attempting to be honest and helpful with their answers, there’s a lot of just plain ‘hooey’ out there about anything that you can think of.

So let’s go through and both expose the myths as well as reveal the truth behind a lot of the false things said about KP on the web.

My boyfriend gave me keratosis pilaris! No, he didn’t. There’s only one way that you can get KP, and it’s not from sex partners, toilet seats or food that was sneezed on. It’s from your parents (or grandparents, etc.) Keratosis pilaris is 100% inherited and is genetic in nature. If you have it (even if your parents or grandparents haven’t) you got at birth, plain and simple.

KP causes (or leads to) Psoriasis, Eczema, etc. Nope. Keratosis pilaris is it’s own skin condition. It has nothing to do with acne, psoriasis, eczema, or any other skin condition. It does not and cannot turn into a completely different skin condition.

You should treat KP with acne medications. The real answer, Never! While acne medications or over the counter treatments may work well for acne, these types of medications actually dry the skin, which is exactly what you don’t want if you have keratosis pilaris. While people who have acne should try to dry their skin, people suffering from KP should both moisturize and exfoliate their skin as much as possible.

Take a hot bath to soothe your KP. Again, Never! Overly hot baths and showers can actually irritate your skin (especially the areas which may be prone to an outbreak) and actually cause a KP outbreak or make the keratosis pilaris symptoms worse. You should instead take only warm showers or baths and try to limit your bathing time to around fifteen minutes or less each time.

A gluten free diet can cure keratosis pilaris. Not true, the simple answer is that a gluten free diet as just one part of your overall KP regimen may help some people with KP, however there are many people who have gone 100% gluten free for months (and even years in some cases) who’s keratosis pilaris symptoms didn’t improve at all. Simply eating gluten free alone with not cure your KP.

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.