Detour From Heart Discussions to Skin Cancer

This entry in my blog is dedicated to a discussion on treatment for skin cancer.  I do not have skin cancer, but I am being treated by my dermatologist for the pre-cancer marks on my face.

Picato gel is:

Results of a new study suggest that Picato gel (ingenol mebutate, LEO Pharma) is efficient and effective in treating actinic keratosis (AK).

Now, what is actinic keratosis?

An actinic keratosis, also known as a solar keratosis, is a scaly or crusty growth (lesion). It most often appears on the bald scalp, face, ears, lips, backs of the hands and forearms, shoulders, neck or any other areas of the body frequently exposed to the sun. You’ll most often see the plural, “keratoses,” because there is seldom just one.

In the beginning, actinic keratoses are frequently so small that they are recognized by touch rather than sight. It feels as if you were running a finger over sandpaper. There are many times the number of invisible (subclinical) lesions as visible ones on the skin surface.

Most often, actinic keratoses develop slowly and reach a size from an eighth to a quarter of an inch. Early on, they may disappear only to reappear later. Most become red, but some will be light or dark tan, pink, red, a combination of these, or the same color as your skin. Occasionally they itch or produce a pricking or tender sensation. They can also become inflamed and surrounded by redness. In rare instances, actinic keratoses can even bleed.

If you have actinic keratoses, it indicates that you have sustained sun damage and could develop any kind of skin cancer – not just squamous cell carcinoma.

This is from my propensity to burn easy in the sun for 60 years!!  Plus not using enough sun block!  The first 20 years of my life I never heard of sun block!!!

Hear are some discussions on the use of picato gel.  I just finished my third & last day and I look like a "red" racoon!  I put the gel around the top & below my eyes & on my nose.

Discussion on the use of Picato Gel .015%