Skin Care

Called by others as basal cell papilloma, brown warts, senile warts, barnacles, seborrheic verruca, seborrheic warts, or senile keratosis, seborrheic keratosis is an irregular skin condition. Usually benign, seborrheic keratoses commonly appear as a person ages.

The skin growths caused by seborrheic keratosis vary in color. The colors they appear in range between light tan to darker shades of black. Round or oval-shaped, these skin growths also vary in shape. The lesions will feel like elevated scabs once you touch them. Seborrheic keratoses are often small in size and can look like warts. Despite that, seborrheic keratosis does not appear because of a viral source.  The lesions may have some cysts implanted into them. Since seborrheic keratoses can resemble melanoma skin cancer, one should immediately have a biopsy done when they see such lesions on their skin.

Treating seborrheic keratosis is actually not commonly vital. This is because seborrheic keratosis has been proven to be commonly benign. Very little risk is involved regarding localized infection of a lesion that has been scratched. In cases where the itchiness becomes intolerable, the growth must be eliminated by means of cryosurgery. The clothing of the patient and even their jewelry may be the cause for the skin irritation.

For the smaller lesions, light electrocautery can be used to treat them. The bigger, more stubborn lesions have to undergo other methods. Electrodessication and curettage, as well as cryotherapy can be employed for this purpose.

One other method for treating seborrheic keratosis is by using liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen freezes the seborrheic keratosis when employed on a lesion. This method using liquid nitrogen, however, can cause scarring. The scar that will remain after the skin growth has been removed is usually flat, unless your skin tends to develop keloids. You may also shave off the lesions as another alternative process. A razor blade that is flexible can be employed for this purpose. Use the blade to shave off the seborrheic keratoses while leaving the normal skin unharmed.

The causes for seborrheic keratosis are actually still ambiguous. Because of the fact that most affected parts by seborrheic keratosis are exposed to the sun’s rays the most often, ultraviolet light has been seen as one possible cause. The most frequently affected parts of the body by seborrheic keratosis are the back, arms, face, and neck. Still another potential cause of seborrheic keratoses is heredity. It does not matter that much what causes seborrheic keratosis, however, mainly because it is typically benign and not too problematic.