Small bumps on back of arms? - Page 3

[blastomom]

Originally Posted by dallaschildren

Pregnancy WILL make it WORSE. After three babies...mine is DEFINATELY worse. I now have a little on my thighs. Oh joy!

Years and years ago my derm told me that pregnancy could either make it much worse, or much better. Luckily, I'm in the second category. My skin has been relatively clear for nearly 3 years--which happens to be the exact length of time that I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding. I'm not sure if it will get worse again once I stop, and since I'm pg again it will probably be a few years before I can test that theory.

[Still_Snarky]

How about this for a thread revival?

Anyway, I've found that adding fish oil and more animal fat to my diet has helped my arms clear up some.

[***Heather***]

I read the whole thread before realizing it was a year or two old. : I've had little bumpies on my upper arms for years. I've heard about this before, but when I read a link, it said that it can also be found on your face. I've never had a clear complexion, always had slightly rougher/blotchy cheeks. Must be the same thing! It's not bad enough that I feel embarrassed, just not as smooth and pretty as I could be. I have found that using moisturizer helps.

[celestialdreamer]

I have this on my arms and now on my face. It has gotten progressively worse over the last 3 years since I had my kids. It was better during pregnancy but got worse after. I'm not eating wheat or dairy (which are triggers for me) and taking CLO supplements and it does seem a little better. Daily exfoliation does seem to really help it for me, but right now it is really bad on my left arm. I read this really old thread when it popped back up because I have been trying to figure out how to get rid of it. I'm thinking maybe I should find some other things to try...

[Jane]

My dh has been scrubbing the @&*@# out of the back of his arms in the shower. The bumps are almost gone.

I get the rest with tweezers b/c the hair/skin sticks up a little. I'm a proud member of the picking tribe.

[jenmary]

I have KP too. Upper arms, thigh to a lesser extent. Gets better in summer, worse in winter. The latest development since my pregnancy is the addition of itchy scabby bumps on my scalp, mainly above the nape of my neck.

The ammonium lactate cream seemed to help a little but I never got in the routine of using it twice a day everyday as prescribed, so I thought 'maybe it would work if I used it consistently instead of 5-6 times a week or whenever I remembered to use it'. Gentle exfoliating also seemed to help a bit, but scrubbing too hard only makes it worse.

I have a large tattoo on my right arm/shoulder and have also considered covering both upper arms to camoflage the red bumpy chicken skin. So far that seems a bit drastic and too expensive.

Now I am very interested in eliminating foods that might aggravate it. As a young teen I had a positive skin test for allergy to wheat and corn, but my symptoms have been too mild to warrant a complete diet overhaul. I did try baking oat and rice flour breads for a while, but eventually decided to live with the bumpy skin and dark undereye circles. FWIW, my genetic heritage is Celtic.

Has anyone had seen an improvement in KP after eliminating wheat and/or corn? What about dairy? I don't know much about gluten sensitivity, is KP a symptom? I *think* I have seen an improvement since adding fish oil to my diet, the redness has diminished and the bumps are smoother. I would love for them to disappear, is this at all realistic?

[ShannonCC]

I have this on the backs of my arms and my butt It makes sense to me it's a vitamin deficiency. I found out recently (about 4 months back) that I'm gluten intolerant and cut gluten and my arms and butt are now much smoother than they've been in years. From what I've read, people with gluten intolerance have trouble getting all the nutrients they need because the gluten is messing up their digestion.

Also gluten intolerance is common in Europe (Ireland in particular has a lot of diagnosed celiacs - not sure of the numbers in Germany) so the Celtic connection would also make sense.

I also used to get eczema on my hands. I thought it was connected to dairy because when I ate dairy I'd get it. I cut gluten and after a few months, I can now eat dairy with no problem and no eczema.

Basically all *my* skin problems seem to be gluten, but that's me.

Oh, and my 5 year old son's cradle cap has started to FINALLY go away after I reduced his gluten intake (not really on purpose but since I can't eat it I don't feel like having it in the house so the kids are being cut back). I think that's related since it's also skin.

Edited to say that pregnancy (along with other stressors) is often cited as a trigger for gluten intolerance or celiacs. A person can either have the tendency lying dormant or they are sort of low level reacting but it gets worse after pregnancy. That was definitely true for me. I'd had digestive problems and skin problems for years but it wasn't til after my second pregnancy that things seemed to go a bit haywire.

[Chicharronita]

I agree with PP who've said that it can be caused by a vitamin A deficiency. I started taking high-quality cod liver oils that you can only buy online, and mine went away.

A few months ago I got lazy and started using the TwinLab brand, and they came back again. I think they are using synthetic vitamins, and/or there's not as much vitamin A as what's listed on the label.

I got some Garden of Life cod liver oil, one of the only recommended brands you can get from a HFS, and lo and behold, they started going away. Whew.

BTW, beta carotene is useless for this problem, and is no solution for vitamin A deficiency.

[Still_Snarky]

Originally Posted by Chicharronita

I got some Garden of Life cod liver oil, one of the only recommended brands you can get from a HFS, and lo and behold, they started going away. Whew.

I'll look for that.

[ShannonCC]

I'm excited now I googled the term to see if I could read more (just out of idle curiosity really - it's never bothered me) and found that it's definitely linked to gluten. There is a thread on celiac.com of people who had it and it cleared up when they went gf. Which is not to say it's the cause for everyone of course, but it's just another piece of the puzzle for me.

Thanks for bumping this thread Still_Snarky

[Fish Face]

I have only read some of the posts, but this thread caught my eye. My sister recently visited the dermatologist and asked about these bumps on her arm (she and I have both had them our whole lives). He told her it is a genetic condition (forgive me if this was already mentioned!) Harmless, but a skin condition inherited from someone in your family. Uhhhh she told me the name of the condition but my hormonal brain just forgot...