Seborrheic Keratosis is a product of aging. It’s as simple as that. When you are young and your skin is in good condition, the melanocytes move around and produce the tans that may people work so hard to achieve.
Believe it or not, they are setting the stage of seborrheic keratosis to appear later in life as the lesions that appear usually do not manifest themselves until you over 40. Indeed, the age when they are first usually noticed is between 40 and 50. It is also not uncommon for everyone to experience at least one keratosis during their middle and later years.
Seborrheic keratosis, which can appear as a flat or waxy brown or tan spot on the skin, especially on your back and on your face and neck or it can also appear as a crusty brown or black and brown growth on your body, is the result of the damage you caused to your skin when you were younger and sought the “golden glow” or a great tan.
With the strength of today’s sun and the chemicals available for sunscreening, it would probably appear as if seborrheic keratosis should be under control, but it isn’t. Indeed, as has been pointed out, these lesions don’t begin to manifest themselves until you reach middle age or later.
It is at this time when the cumulative effects of skin damage by the sun begin to manifest themselves. This is because in a younger person the skin is still in good condition and the melanocytes in the skin are able to shift around so that keratosis lesions do not appear.
As noted it is when you reach middle age that the lesions begin to appear. They usually appear singly and it may be likely that you will only have one or two your entire lifetime as that is the way they usually appear.
Interestingly, it has also been noted that if your family is predisposed to keratosis, it is likely that you will develop at least one lesion during your lifetime. They also seem to appear overnight and if they grow at all it is very slowly.
There are various remedies for keratosis, but the best is probably to make sure that when you have children that they are properly dressed for the sun and that you use a good sun block, such as an SPF of 35 with at least three stars on the label which is good for UVA and UVB control. As an adult, limiting your exposure to the sun and long-sleeved, loose-fitting clothing and a broad-brimmed hat or head covering should also help in keeping the keratosis level down. It won’t prevent them, but it will help.
Seborrheic Keratosis Further Reading:
