Beauty Tips For Body Care
Original post here: https://reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/e0ka9z/why_weve_been_looking_at_keratosis_pilaris_wrong/TL;DR of the Original Post: A 2011 scientific (not clinical) study of Keratosis Pilaris found evidence that KP is a symptom of sebaceous gland atrophy that is possibly caused by a host of genetic factors.Using this information I have trialed a skin care routine to supplement my skin’s sebum production. The results of my personal routine are shown in the original post.Now for the update. After the rapid results I experienced over the first few weeks of treatment, my skin more or less “leveled out” to the texture and coloring you see here: https://i.imgur.com/s8pKTjh.jpgI thought this might be as far as I could go with clearing my KP (which I was honestly very very happy with) but because I can’t leave well enough alone, I started experimenting to see what else was possible.I began working in squalane oil with the jojoba oil during my routine by mixing 5 parts jojoba oil to 1 part squalane and the results were somewhat imperceptible. If anything, it seemed as though the squalane oil helped with absorption into the skin, but that was about it.I believe that some of the remaining discoloring is due to my picking at the KP lesions over the years and the scarring that left behind.At day 24 I decided I had made enough progress to discontinue physical and chemical exfoliation and only use the jojoba/squalane mixture to see if it could support healthy skin function going forward.After 4 days of no exfoliation, I began to notice a strange texture, but no increase in discoloration. It appears to me that the keratin plugs began to form again, albeit at a much slower pace and with a different structure. Instead of completely capping off the hair follicles, they seemed to be forming around the follicles in a more “pointy” shape. I’ve tried to take pictures but they don’t really capture what the texture looks and feels like in person. https://i.imgur.com/U9P7t4X.jpgAt this point I realized that even though the jojoba/squalane oil is helping to regulate the skin, Somehow keratin is still getting trapped in/around the vellus hair.This train of thought led me to this research article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3681106/This scientific study (which you can read for yourself in the link above) concludes that KP is not due to the overproduction of keratin, but rather it is due to malformed hair follicle coiling in the folliclular channel, rupturing the follicular epithelium, which breaks the skin barrier causing inflammation. The coiled structure of the vellus hair also creates the surface area for normal keratin shedding to become trapped, forming a papule.So what can we put together from these scientific studies?We know that:In skin with KP, sebaceous gland atrophy is present. It is important to not the that atrophy does not indicate a complete failure/death of the gland. It’s just that the sebum output is minimal.Hair follicles, and in this case specifically vellus body hairs, when they become coiled in construction, will rupture an important barrier called the follicular epithelium. This damage will become inflamed, and the coiled structure will begin capturing normal keratin shedding to sometimes create a KP lesion/papule.These two studies hold their weight for me because they appear to further confirm what we already know about KP. There is little to no literature on the theory of increased keratin production in the skin of those with KP. And in every scientific study that delves deeper into the pathogenesis of KP, it’s found that keratinocytes are shedding normally while other factors are present that contribute to the manifestation of KP.So my theory, built off of information gleaned in these 2 research articles, goes something like this:Step 1: Sebaceous glands begin to atrophy, whether spurred on by hormones or be genetic predisposition.Step 2: Vellus body hair follicles begin to construct in malformed, coiled patterns (due to the lack of sebum) within the follicular channel.Step 3: the hair follicle grows and ruptures the follicular epithelium. The break in this barrier causes inflammation, which presents itself as redness/discoloration in the skin.Step 4: the coiled hair interrupts normal keratinocytes from escaping the follicular channel. The lack of sebum means the keratin clumps around the follicles like damp tissue paper.Step 5: the keratin clumps together to form a KP lesion/papule. This appears in the skin as small, red bumps.I returned to exfoliation with SA scrub and AMlactin over a week ago and my skin returned to its smooth, non-KP texture overnight. I am in a maintenance pattern with using jojoba oil 2x a day and have discontinued using the squalane oil for now.This post is already far too long, but I wanted to make a shout out to /u/superPhDguy who asked me a question about Sebaceous Gland regeneration, which has spurred on my research and efforts in a new direction. I’m hoping to share that material with you all in a future update post as I compile it together. Assuming a few people email me back, I may have some really interesting material to share with others who have suffered with severe KP.Thank you for reading this far! I appreciate any feedback/ideas that you may have for me :)
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by Poem_for_your_shlong
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