Actinic Keratosis

[Mel1981 11]

Hey all,

I had a couple of AKs frozen off of my nose in July 2022 and then another appeared on the nose later that year and I used a compound cream to get rid of it.  I have my appointment tomorrow and just get a ton of anxiety about this.  I know that AKs are common and may never turn into anything but I seem to worry more as the appointment gets closer.  She had me use the cream once more based on a couple of pictures I sent her recently and I'm just healing from that on the nose.  I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance on these AKs turning into squamos cell.

[Ironman 190]

If there is a pattern of these not developing, then this would not be any diferent.

[PennyPanic 274]

On 11/12/2023 at 10:42 AM, Mel1981 said:

Hey all,

I had a couple of AKs frozen off of my nose in July 2022 and then another appeared on the nose later that year and I used a compound cream to get rid of it.  I have my appointment tomorrow and just get a ton of anxiety about this.  I know that AKs are common and may never turn into anything but I seem to worry more as the appointment gets closer.  She had me use the cream once more based on a couple of pictures I sent her recently and I'm just healing from that on the nose.  I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance on these AKs turning into squamos cell.

I'm in a similar situation. My derm blows it off as "just one of those things" I hate it...I hate all of it. I hate the constant fear of it. I go every six months for a skin check and more if I find something hinky in between. Sigh... Not sure I've helped other than to tell you, you're not alone. From what I've read, those can actually turn into BCC or SCC...even though most places online overwhelmingly mention only SCC (BCC is less awful). Some places say that up to 10% can "one day" turn into something sinister...other places say that transformation is rare and then spreading is even rarer. Some things I've read say that they would have to be "badly ignored" to be truly life threatening...other places or scarier saying that they ALL need to be dealt with. I've also read stories of anxiety not helping in these matters with it potentially affecting development of at least BCCs. The best thing I've done is find a good derm that I trust and go regularly and any time in between something seems bothersome. Also some of the AKs might actually be a SK seborrheic keratosis which is totally benign. My derm says there's no way to know for sure without a biopsy and the treatment is the same either way so he just removes them either way. Apparently, he deals with these things all day every day. I suspect your derm does as well. Hang in there. Keep us posted. We're all in this together.

[PennyPanic 274]

One thing that gives me great comfort. My mother in law is 94 she's had a lot of skin cancer...a lot lot lot...all kinds except the really bad kind. Never gave her a lick of trouble...just had them dealt with and moved on. She never even worried. She never wore sunscreen. She just didn't care. She never seemed to worry about anything ever. Her husband (my father in law) also also had skin cancer....the really bad kind and that was dealt with and he never had any other issues...he also lived well into his 90's and passed from old age.