Solar Keratosis - Information on Solar Keratosis

Solar Keratosis Information

Solar Keratosis is basically a skin disease typical to youth, but it may occur to the people at any age. Fair skinned people who work outdoors or live in tropical countries for long periods, people who have type I skin are prone to develop these lesions. These are seen as rough warty spots over the exposed areas – face, central chest, neck, the outer aspect of hands and forearms. The skin in these areas are wrinkled, leathery and rather irregularly discolored.

Solar keratosis is a skin disease which develops on the skin in small, rough, bump shapes. It is caused by a lot of exposure to the sun over many years. One or more may develop. It is sometimes called an actinic keratosis. Solar keratoses are a reflection of abnormal skin cell development due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation. They are considered precancerous. It is usually seen in fair skinned people on the exposed areas of the body. Years of long standing sun damage causes these lesions.

We have provided you here all symptoms, causes and treatment methods of Solar Keratosis.

Causes of Solar Keratosis

The main cause behind Solar Keratosis is chronic sun exposure, sun damage to the skin accumulates over time, so that even a brief exposure adds to the lifetime total. It can also appear on skin that has been frequently exposed to artificial sources of UV light (such as tanning devices). More rarely, they may be caused by extensive exposure to X-rays or specific industrial chemicals.

What are the symptoms of Solar Keratosis ?

Follwoing are the symptoms of Solar Keratosis

1) emergence of small, rough, bump size of a pinhead to 2-3 cm across

2) Colored in light, dark, pink, red, the same colour as your skin. Surface is initially flat and scaly, then becomes slightly raised

3) finger-like growth of hard skin appears to come out of a solar keratosis

4) face, neck, bald patches on the scalp, and the backs of the hands

5) itchy or pricking sensation from affected areas of skin.

6) Limited to a discrete area (localized)

Treatment of Solar Keratosis

Methods For Treating Solar Keratosis are :

1) Application of 5 -fluorouarcil cream

2) Retina A cream

Other treatments includes

• Cryotherapy - Freezing with liquid nitrogen
• Curettage cautery . Curettage is the removal of a lesion by scraping it with a sharp instrument.
• Excision
• Imiquimod
• Photodynamic therapy - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) ops a burn and then heals over a couple of weeks or so.
• Diclofenac gel- Diclofenac in hyaluran gel has been used successfully to treat solar keratoses, and is well tolerated.