Will it ever go away completely?

It is genetic, so realistically it is managed rather than ended -- though it very often fades on its own with age, and many people find it much less pronounced after thirty. Treated consistently, arms go smooth; stop, and they return over a few weeks. That is the honest expectation to set.

Is it the same as strawberry legs?

No, though they get confused constantly. Keratosis pilaris is a keratin plug in the follicle and feels like sandpaper. Strawberry legs are dark dots in open follicles after shaving -- trapped hair, oxidised oil or mild folliculitis. A BHA helps both, but a fresh blade and shaving with the grain does more for the second than any lotion.

Can I use it on my face?

Keratosis pilaris does appear on cheeks, especially in children, but a body-strength lotion is not formulated for facial skin. The facial version of the same acid at a facial strength is the right tool; the arm bottle is not.

Does eating differently help?

There is no diet shown to clear it. It is associated with dry skin and eczema, so anything that improves your skin barrier generally helps at the margin -- but the follicle keeps making keratin regardless of what you eat, and treatments that dissolve it are doing the actual work.

The answer

How do I get rid of the bumps on the backs of my arms?

Those rough little bumps on the backs of the upper arms, and often the thighs and cheeks, are keratosis pilaris: keratin building up and plugging the follicle instead of shedding out of it. It is inherited, it affects a very large share of people, and it is medically harmless -- which is why nobody is going to cure it for you. What does work is dissolving the plug chemically and doing it continuously, because the follicle goes on making them. The instinct is to scrub, and scrubbing inflames the follicle so the bumps go red as well as rough. Acid, not abrasion.

What answers it

Paula's ChoiceWeightless Body Treatment 2% BHAStart here. Salicylic acid is oil-soluble, so it gets down inside the follicle where the plug is -- which is exactly what a keratin plug needs and what a surface acid cannot reach. A lotion, so there is nothing abrasive in it.Buy on Amazon
Paula's ChoiceSkin Revealing Body Lotion 10% AHAThe alternative rather than the addition. Glycolic acid works across the surface, so it suits arms that are rough and dull all over more than arms that are bumpy in distinct spots. Using both at once is how people over-exfoliate an arm.Buy on Amazon
La Roche-PosayAnthelios Melt-In Milk SPF 60Both acids raise sun sensitivity, and bare arms in summer are the whole point of treating this. Also the reason the red halo around each bump fades more slowly than the bump itself.Buy on Amazon

Prices live on Amazon, where they change hourly — so we never quote one. Every product here is a brand we would name out loud.

Why loofahs and scrubs fail

The plug is inside the follicle and a scrub works on top of the skin, so at best it takes the very tip off and at worst it inflames the follicle around it. That inflammation is what turns pale bumps into red ones -- so people scrub harder because it looks worse, and it gets worse because they scrub. If your arms are red as well as bumpy, stopping the scrub is the first improvement available.

Two weeks of consistency beats a strong week

Keratin plugs re-form on a schedule the follicle sets, so this is maintenance rather than a course of treatment. Applied nightly, texture usually starts to turn in three to four weeks; applied when you remember, it does not. It is also why the bumps come back a month after people stop and conclude the product stopped working.

Hot showers and hard soap make it worse

Both strip the skin lipid that keeps the surface pliable, and dry skin plugs more readily. A shorter, cooler shower, a non-foaming wash, and moisturiser while still damp all lower the baseline the acid then has to work against -- most noticeably in winter, when almost everyone's KP is at its worst.

Questions

Will it ever go away completely?: It is genetic, so realistically it is managed rather than ended -- though it very often fades on its own with age, and many people find it much less pronounced after thirty. Treated consistently, arms go smooth; stop, and they return over a few weeks. That is the honest expectation to set.
Is it the same as strawberry legs?: No, though they get confused constantly. Keratosis pilaris is a keratin plug in the follicle and feels like sandpaper. Strawberry legs are dark dots in open follicles after shaving -- trapped hair, oxidised oil or mild folliculitis. A BHA helps both, but a fresh blade and shaving with the grain does more for the second than any lotion.
Can I use it on my face?: Keratosis pilaris does appear on cheeks, especially in children, but a body-strength lotion is not formulated for facial skin. The facial version of the same acid at a facial strength is the right tool; the arm bottle is not.
Does eating differently help?: There is no diet shown to clear it. It is associated with dry skin and eczema, so anything that improves your skin barrier generally helps at the margin -- but the follicle keeps making keratin regardless of what you eat, and treatments that dissolve it are doing the actual work.

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