Unfortunately, keratosis pilaris, better known at “chicken skin,” is a condition that is genetically determined and will never go away. It has to do with the lipid mix within the ‘envelope’ surrounding your skin cells. Everyone has skin cells that have a cell membrane, but based on the ratio of cholesterol, triglycerides and ceramides, the envelope becomes more or less sticky based on your genetics.
Stickier skin cells will get caught around the hair follicles. It’s usually on the front of the thighs and on the back of the arms, resulting in dead skin that sticks to the base of the hair follicle. This feels like little bumps when you run your hand over the area.
We’ve got mechanical ways, like loofas, that can help get dead skin off the surface of the hair follicle. We also have chemical keratolytics that help dissolve dead skin around the hair follicles, so that it sloughs off the body. However, these are all temporary fixes, because if you stop using one of these two strategies, eventually the dead skin will re-accumulate around the hair follicles.
