Actinic keratosis can also be called by the name solar keratosis. It is just a small spot with rough skin that can occur on the skin area that is primarily exposed to sun. The general measurement for the actinic keratosis is in between 2-6 millimeters in diameters. Usually they appear in reddish color along with rough surface and many times they are pointed with yellow or white scale. Actinic keratosis may occur as a result of sun damage that also includes wrinkles, age spots, blood vessels and sallowness.
Additionally, the rubbing with fingers and some cloth on actinic keratosis can also cause some painful feeling. A cutaneous horn is a specialized form of actinic keratosis in which the skin stick out from a surface in a hard hornlike manner that mention for scaling and having the surface that is not even or regular of lower lip and blurring the lip border and near to skin.
Who is at risk of developing an actinic keratosis?
The development of actinic keratosiss may occur among those people who are having fair skin and the people who have to spend a long period of time for outdoors, regularly tan their skin, have previously burned their skin by not using sunscreen or those who use tanning beds. Most often wrinkles become start to visible on their skin, and the skin can become mottled and discolored due to the intense sun exposure. The suppressed immune system can also help to develop actinic keratosis. Like the patient who has been transplanted and the patient who have taken the treatment with psoriasis with PUVA therapy.
Actinic keratosis typically occurs on which areas of the body?
The most common locations for the appearance of actinic keratosis are primarily face, the cheeks, the nose bridge, ears, the back of the neck, upper chest and the hands and forearms. In men AKs mostly appear on the ears whereas this part of women is usually getting protected with hair. They usually seem to be more visible on the thickened area of your skin.
How important is it to treat an actinic keratosis?
In fact actinic keratosis are precancerous that means they can turn into the form of skin cancer on later stages. After few years by continuous development it can become a actual cancer. At the time of occurring malignant change the cancer will be known as squamous cell carcinoma. Its better to treat actinic keratosis on early stages it help to prevent such serious conditions.
