Solar keratoses

Diagnosing actinic keratoses

Your GP may be able to diagnose actinic keratoses by examining the patches on your skin.

In some cases, the diagnosis may need to be confirmed byremovingasmall sample of skin and examining it under the microscope.

Actinic keratoses can often be managed by your GP, but you may need to see a skin specialist (dermatologist) for further assessment if:

your GP is not certain about your diagnosis
your GP thinksone or moreof your patches may be cancerous or at a high risk of becoming cancerous
your patches are particularly severe or widespread
you are taking immunosuppressant drugs for example, following an organ transplant
yourpatches have not responded to treatment

Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 21 Dec 2018

Articles for solar keratoses

Introduction

Actinic keratoses, also known as solar keratoses, are dry scaly patches of skin caused by damage from years of sun exposure.

Who is affected

Actinic keratoses are most commonly seenin fair-skinned people, especially those with blue eyes, red hair, freckles and a tendency to burn easily in the sun.Men are affected more often than women. Pe

Diagnosing actinic keratoses

Your GP may be able to diagnose actinic keratoses by examining the patches on your skin. In some cases, the diagnosis may need to be confirmed byremovingasmall sample of skin and examining it under t

Treatment options

If the patches are not troublesome, yourdoctor may simply recommend that you keep an eye on them and come back if they change in any way for example,if you developnew symptoms such as a patch growing

Self-help

It is important to protect your skin from the sun if you have actinic keratoses. This can reduce the risk offurther patches developing and may help reduce the number of patches you already have. To p

Outlook

Actinic keratoses that have been treated usually go away, but it islikely that more patches will develop, requiring further treatment. The development of actinic keratoses is a sign that the underlyi

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