ACTINIC KERATOSIS

Actinic Keratosis (AK) is also known as Solar Keratosis (SK) or most common terms people familiar with is sun-damaged. Although usually seen in mature skin from age 40 and above, however, it can also be seen on people in younger age groups.

AK skin disorders are characterised with scaly spots and it is considered to be precancerous or an early sign of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC).

CAUSES

The causes has been known from DNA damage by short-length of UVB leads to the abnormal skin cell development. Mostly found on the sun exposed areas such as back of the hands, face, ears, nose, lip and balding scalp.

TREATMENTS

There are treatments available for treating AK such as Cryotherapy (using liquid Nitrogen), shave, curettage, electrocautery, excision and topical creams prescribe and perform by medical practitioners.

At Skinderm Aesthetics, if AK detected early, focal chemical peels such as Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) can help to remove these precancerous lesions with multiple treatments of chemical peels. This caustic chemical peel required careful skin prep for at least 2 to 4 weeks prior the treatment and downtime usually takes about 10 to 14 days post treatment to recover.

Our services to treated precancerous lesions are:

PREVENTION

Strict sun protection can prevented AK from occurring with a very high sunscreen SPF 30+ and above.

Reference and photo resources:

https://www.dermnetnz.org/actinic-keratosis/