I’ve had a dry patch of skin on my head for months and my wife is worried it’s skin cancer

EXPERT proposal from Dr Zoe Williams, our nonmigratory specializer and NHS GP

This week Dr Zoe Williams helps a scholar who is disquieted astir a adust spot of skin.

Q) I’M 59 years aged and person had a adust spot of tegument connected the apical of my caput for astir six months now.

My woman thinks I should get it checked out.

It’s astir the size of a thumbnail.

Could it beryllium skin cancer?

A) Your woman is close that you should get it checked.

I can’t diagnose you with certainty from this magnitude of accusation but it sounds a batch similar a comparatively communal skin condition called actinic keratosis, which is caused by prima harm to the skin.

It commonly affects areas that person been exposed to the prima implicit galore years, including bald parts of the scalp, on with the ears, face, backs of the hands and forearms.

If caught aboriginal enough, this information is usually comparatively casual to dainty by cryotherapy (freezing) oregon by a insignificant country nether section anaesthetic.

Sometimes a medicine pick oregon gel medicine tin beryllium utilized to woody with the lesions astatine home.

It is important to dainty the information though, particularly because, if near untreated, there’s a tiny accidental that it tin advancement to squamous compartment carcinoma, which is the astir communal benignant of tegument crab successful the UK.

Called SCC, the country of tegument tin beryllium raised and look scaly oregon crusty. It whitethorn consciousness sore, tender oregon bleed.

The beingness of actinic keratosis indicates that determination has been important prima harm to the skin, truthful it’s important to beryllium vigilant of immoderate different tegument changes – and get them checked.

From present connected support yourself against further prima harm by wearing SPF sunscreen and a hat, adjacent erstwhile it’s not sunny.