Actinic keratoses (solar keratoses)
Overview
Actinic keratoses (also called solar keratoses) are dry, scaly patches of skin that have been damaged by the sun. It'snot usually serious, but there's a small chance the patches could become skin cancer. Protecting your skin in the sun and watching out for changes can help.
Symptoms
Actinic keratoses patches: can feel dry, rough and scaly, or like sandpaperare usually between 1cm and 2cm in sizecan be the same colour as your skin, or range from pink to red to brownmay be itchy The patches usually appear on areas of your body that are often exposed to the sun, such as your face, hands and arms, ears, scalp and legs.
Treatment
If you only have 1 actinic keratoses patch, a GP might suggest waiting to see if it goes away by itself. If you have more than 1 patch, or a patch is causing you problems such as pain and itchiness, treatment is usually recommended. A GP may refer you to a skin specialist (dermatologist). Treatments for actinic keratoses include: prescription creams and gelsfreezing the patches (cryotherapy) – this makes the patches turn into blisters and fall off after a few weekssurgery to cut out or scrape away the patches – you'll be given a local anaesthetic first, so it does not hurtphotodynamic therapy (PDT), where special cream is applied to the patches and a light is shone on them