Even though we know better than to pick at our skin (or at least, we should know better), sometimes those red/white bumps on our arms are a little hard to resist. But why are they even there in the first place?
If you’ve ever been curious about why your arms are sporting bumps, here’s the good news. It’s due to a condition called keratosis pilaris, and those bumps are incredibly common and nothing that you should worry about from a health perspective. However, that doesn’t mean they should be celebrated. They often look like little pimples, which might make you a little self-conscious, but they’re not really the same. The bumps are actually plugs of keratin and dead skin cells, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. The place where they’re most common is on your upper arms, and they’re often red, but they can also be tan or white.
So, why do you get them? It could be age. In fact, 50 to 80% of all adolescents have it at some point.
Even though most people who have it are under 30, per the Mayo Clinic, it can happen to anyone with dry skin. That said, the best way to fight it is with moisturizer. Even though plenty of people offer up treatments, there’s no real cure that’ll get rid of them permanently if they choose to stick around.
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So, you might have to learn to live with them — especially if you have them as an adult. If you’re worried about how you look, have no fear — oftentimes, they’re simply hard to notice. Plus, nobody out there should even think to judge you for having keratosis pilaris. It’s just a quirky feature that many of our bodies are equipped with.