NHS skin expert explains how to combat Keratosis Pilaris - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Beauty NHS skin expert explains how to combat strawberry legs aka Keratosis Pilaris By Georgia Green - May 25, 2022 The sun is here (occasionally), which for lots of us means ditching the long midi dresses and trousers of winter to embrace shorter hemlines – and swimwear if you’re jetting off somewhere warm this summer. For some people though, getting into shorts and mini dresses can be at best annoying and at worst anxiety-inducing, thanks to a skin condition often referred to as chicken skin or strawberry legs. Getty Images Clinically known as Keratosis Pilaris (or KP), it is those small red or dark bumps you sometimes see on the skin, most commonly on the legs – hence its aforementioned nicknames, as the skin can appeared dimpled like the surface of a strawberry or chicken skin. For some women, it can be enough to make them feel as though they should cover up their legs, so embarrassed are they of the appearance of their skin. Of course, no woman should feel any shame or embarrassment around their body, but we all know that’s easier said than done with the appearance-obsessed culture we live in. So we spoke to skin expert and aesthetic practitioner Dr Raj Arora of The Face Bible, to get her expert advice on how to minimise the appearance of strawberry legs. What is chicken skin, or strawberry legs? Keratosis Pilaris is a genetic condition that often affects females, but it can affect people of any age, race or sex. Tiny red bumps visible on the skin’s surface that resemble goosebumps are actually caused by plugs of dead skin cells. What causes it? It occurs when the body produces excess keratin on the hair follicles causing them to become clogged and leaving a ‘strawberry skin’ appearance. What’s the most effective way to get rid of it? I usually recommend gentle cleansing as excessive dryness can further aggravate the condition. Gentle and regular physical exfoliation can also be helpful – I tend to recommend a silicone-based cleansing device – like the LUNA by Foreo or a physical exfoliating mitt with gentle pressure. Aside from this, chemical exfoliation using gentle acids does tend to yield the best results. Getty Images What products do you recommend to your patients? Chemical exfoliation using gentle acids gets the best results. To my patients at The Face Bible clinic suffering from Keratosis Pilaris, I prescribe OBAGI keraphine body smoothing lotion. It contains glycolic acid which helps to gently remove dead skin cells from the skin’s surface. I tend to also recommend laser hair removal as there is often a curled hair sitting within the skin bump. We have the Soprano Titanium ICE in clinic which works on most skin and hair types. Can you ever be rid of KP for good? Or is it something to manage? In some cases, it can be addressed so that it is no longer noticeable. Generally though, it can be quite resistant to treatment and difficult to manage on your own. I would recommend carrying out treatment under the care of a skin doctor for best results for your specific skin type. For an at-home solution, try one of our recommendations: Boots CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser, £12.50, Boots Lookfantastic AMELIORATE Transforming Body Lotion, £11.25, Lookfantastic Lookfantastic First Aid Beauty KP Smoothing Body Lotion, £22, Lookfantastic RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR You could get paid to test Liberty’ s Beauty Advent Calendar People are obsessed with this Revlon hair drying tool A new drop of Boots Star Gifts has landed for Christmas 2022 Popular in Beauty People are seriously impressed with Primark’ s £8 skinny curling tongs December 16, 2019 Boots is giving away free lipsticks to celebrate the launch of January 23, 2020 This long-lasting eyebrow product is getting rave reviews and is just June 21, 2021 These Liz Earle gift sets are on sale just in time March 5, 2020 WIN A Kiehl’ s skincare heroes bundle worth £104 July 24, 2020 Cult skincare brand Sunday Riley is branching out into hair products April 24, 2020 Superdrug is holding a huge BOGOF sale on all cosmetics for May 28, 2020 Your salon could charge you extra for overgrown roots and bad June 25, 2020 Facial steamers Why searches for this beauty gadget were up 400 July 10, 2020 Lush subscription boxes have arrived and they contain exclusive new products August 3, 2020 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. 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