would love a solution 4 little red bumps on back of my arms
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free skin care · Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:01 pm

I have little red bumps (like mini acne) on the backs of both my upper arms that just won't go away. I have no idea what's causing this.

I tried using Desert Essence Tea Tree pads everyday which hardly helped.

Does anyone have a good solution?

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:49 am

I suggest the cheapest lotion you can buy is, 12% Lac-Hydrin lotion that you buy at the drug store. Sometimes, they are kept behind the counter. Or, from DermaDoctor, she has the same type of cream but a little bid more expensive.

Are you from USA? It makes a difference where you are from. Please let me know and then I can suggest what you can try. It has to do with the FDA.

Also, use a scrub when you shower once in ahwile. There is Dermanew, Baking Soda with Cetaphil mixed together, or Peter Thomas Roth- AHA/BHA face & body scrub (feels the same as Baking Soda with Cetaphil)

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 1:15 pm

i'd suggest a pair of exfoliating gloves for in the shower with a body wash that has ahas and bhas in it. that combo does wonders for slightly bumpy body skin!

Kiwigirl.

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 1:36 pm

I am from the U.S.

Aha's sound like a good solution and definately worth a try.

I've tried salt scrubs that helped smooth out the bumps but still didn't solve the problem. The area is still a bit raised and pink.

I'll look for aha's and bha's today. Smile

Thank you

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:34 pm

I've heard that those bumps can be a result of a lack of vit a in the diet.

Also try one of those natural bristle body brushes you can get at health food stores. They made my bumbs there totally disappear and I never used any type of lotion there. (I guess the brushing is a way of exfoiliating.)

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 3:22 pm

Thanks Lily,

I love a good success story!

I will try a body brush too. Smile

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:27 pm

Hi,

I use MD Formulations Body Scrub for that area-I think it has glycolic acid (not sure) but it does a good job of exfoliating my skin. Afterwards, I use PTR Glycolic Lotion 12%. Warning though-if you have broken skin, it stings a bit.

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:43 pm

I had the same problems for years...It was by fluke that I got rid of it!

I found about OCM and got hooked on essential oils and I started mixing some carrier oil + EO and massaged it on my body at night before I go to bed, just because I love the smell...My bumps are all gone!!

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 11:02 pm

Thank you for your reply's. It's great to have so many options to choose from.

I've been wanting to try the ocm on my face, maybe I'll include my arms while I'm at it.

Svunt1- Did you use a specific EO?

free skin care · Mon Jan 09, 2006 11:44 pm

I just wanted to second the exfoliating followed by an aha moisturizer. Bumps are gone very quickly. I use Dove exfoliating body wash and Eucarin intensive moisturizer.

Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:50 am

When I get lazy with exfoliation I get these little bumps on the back of my thighs. To keep these away I use exfoliating gloves and also use a scrub with a high % of glycolic acid in it (it's the MDF Face & Body scrub, though I wouldn't use it on my face). I think as long as you exfoliate regularly you will see results. Another good (but tedious) way of getting rid of them quickly is with dry body brushing.

free skin care · Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:32 pm

Cloe,
I use different EO every time. I use Sweet Almond as carrier oil. At the moment I love the combination of

Lavender
Tea Tree
Bergamot
Geranium

free skin care · Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:20 pm

Thanks LandB and Mabsy for adding your thoughts.

They were out of dry brushes at the health food store but should get them in this week. As soon as I find an aha or glycolic product that doesn't have too much bad stuff in it, I'll be set.

Thanks Svunt1- those oils sound great. I have at least two.

I am smiling joyfully knowing this problem of mine will soon be history. Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:49 pm

Please let us know what you did and how it is working.

Goodluck! Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:56 pm

Exfoliation is always the best method of getting rid of any bumps. Mabsy I too started to get lazy until I got one of those exfoliation gloves, In the morning in the shower I just slather on my favourate soap or shower gel, put on the glove and exfoliate away. It takes about 4 mins and my skin is so soft, plus it has cut down on having to buy Body Scrubs.
All the bumps on my upper arms, knees and erm bottom Embarassed

have all gone.

Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:36 pm

rosebud wrote:

Exfoliation is always the best method of getting rid of any bumps. Mabsy I too started to get lazy until I got one of those exfoliation gloves, In the morning in the shower I just slather on my favourate soap or shower gel, put on the glove and exfoliate away. It takes about 4 mins and my skin is so soft, plus it has cut down on having to buy Body Scrubs.
All the bumps on my upper arms, knees and erm bottom Embarassed

have all gone.

I've got one of those glove sets as well and I must admit that I am better with using them than with dry body brushing. They do work (plus your skin feels nice and smooth and invigorated afterwards) but I still find that they don't work as well as the dry body brushing, or at least not as quickly...

free skin care · Tue Jan 10, 2006 10:10 pm

I would go with body brushing too... we also have body gloves here but using all those body soaps to scrub up every day is really NOT a good thing for the skin.

Docs and derms will tell ya there are only 3 places - besides the face - that need to have soap applied to them to cleanse - the rest of the body just needs water to wash it off. There were even some studies under way about the harm over washing of skin can have and its contribution to increases in skin cancer (something to do with washing off natural defenses or something)

OK, but off that little soapbox effort... a good body scrub a couple times a week to support daily dry brushing would be good. The glycolic acid ones sound good (I have never tried them). I have used my Epidermx (gasp - not many times though due to $$) microderm treatment on my arms and had a lot of success too.

For a glycolic moisturizer we have had Aquaglycolic and NeoStrata - but I think almost all glycolic products seem to be packed full of nasties like you are trying to avoid.

free skin care · Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:14 pm

You make a very interesting point there, Tiger_tim. I don't know if I could give up the shower gel as I look forward to the aromatherapy of it all. Although I would certainly save some $$. I wonder if putting lotion all over the body affects the skin in any negative way??

I do use a loofah in the shower but I'm guessing it doesn't have the same exfoliating effect as the gloves or dry brush.

I also use Shikai shower gel with aloe and oatmeal. It says it's supposed to help smooth rough, chapped areas but that's also not as strong as aha or glycolic acid.

Anyway, I'll definately let you know what I do and how it all works out.

...Rosebud- the emoticon in your last line fits so perfectly, I'm still giggling!

free skin care · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:01 pm

Cloe - Both my sons have the same thing on the backs of their arms. Inherited from their father. Took em both to the doc about this condition. I didn't want to believe him but all it is is dry skin.

So - they each have their own scrubby gloves (NO SHARING Shame on you

) for the shower and the doc recommended Aveeno for the dryness. That was until I was introduced to the mystical CareKat Wink

I now have them both using the OCM followed by Cammelia <sp?> oil. No lie, my oldest boys arms cleared almost immediately and the second isn't far behind.

free skin care · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:48 pm

very cool!

Thanks for the input Candy. Every little bit helps. Smile

Since it's related to dry skin, I wonder if it's possible that I'm still not drinking enough water. My skin is a little on the dry side. I drink my body's weight in ounces of water every day but to me it still doesn't seem like enough. I'm having other issues that are related to lack of enough water. It's just so hard to drink more than that. Rolling Eyes

I've heard people say drink half your body's weight in ounces of H2O but everybody's different, so who knows. Oh well.

I'm so glad your sons arms are clearing up. Smile

free skin care · Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:28 am

If you're drinking that much water I'd be surprised that your dry skin is b/c you're dehydrated, unless....you expel alot of the water you intake. Exercise, more than 1/2 an hour within your cardio range will deplete your water, sugars, etc. Your daily environment could be something to consider. Too warm? Dry? Food too. Are you a salt fiend? Alot of factors come into play when you talk about how much water you need. If you are thirsty, drink!!

That being said, the condition itself is just that dry skin. Made no sense to me either. But, be sure address this. Thanks for the well wishes for my guys, but know, boys being boys resist "chick stuff". Well, mine do. And my older son has discoloration/scarring? on his arms b/c of not listening to dear old mom.

Good luck and keep me posted!

free skin care · Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:24 am

It's funny, I'm really careful about all of those things especially my sodium intake. I'm sure I'll figure it out one these days.

I've been doing the ocm at night on my arms and they are more moisturized but I still need the exfoliating power of the gloves or brush. I'm going today to get them, even if it means I have to drive all over to find someone who has them in stock.

I'll post again in a few days with any results. I'm anticipating great success!

free skin care · Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:19 pm

I took my niece to see a dermatologist about 10 years ago and he told me the bumps on the arms are dead skin cells that are to sticky to fall off by themselves. And it happended more often to dry skin.

free skin care · Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:12 pm

Interesting! That's how I feel about the skin on my face. It seems like the skin doesn't shed fast enough and I think that's a major cause of my breakouts.

Thanks for the reply. Smile

free skin care · Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:47 pm

Well, it has taken this long but my bumps are almost gone. I tried just about everything mentioned here. It was a lot of trial and error but the things that worked best are ocm, followed by several drops of straight tea tree oil massaged in right after and moisturized with Jason organics vanilla hand and body lotion which contains bha's.

This is somewhat time consuming but it's worth it because the bumps were getting pretty bad and now they are almost nonexistent.

Thanks to Everyone for your suggestions. I don't know what I would do without all of your help. Very Happy

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