Seborrheic Keratoses / "Senile Barnacles"

What the heck is that?

Since summer is here and with it comes trips to the pool, lake, beach, etc. as well as friends and loved ones pointing at things on your body and encouraging you to ask your doctor about them. The most common one I typically see is a harmless one called a seborrheic keratosis and I wanted to give a little information about these courtesy of our dermatologists.

Seborrheic keratoses are common, harmless, wart-like growths. They usually begin to appear in the 30's and 40's and increase in number with advancing age. The individual lesions may grow slowly in size and thickness. They frequently look as though they were stuck on the surface of the skin. They occur most frequently on the trunk, face, and under the breasts, but they can appear anywhere on the skin. Some people have only a few of these growths, while others may have several dozen.

The cause of seborrheic keratoses is not known. They are not warts and are not caused by sunlight. The tendency to develop seborrheic keratoses is inherited.

Seborrheic keratoses do not tend to go away by themselves. Because they are completely harmless and do not change into skin cancer, treatment is not medically necessary. If you want to have them removed because you do not like the way they look or feel, you can have them removed - for a fee - by your doctor or in the Cosmetic Dermatology department.

Here is some more information for you about seborrheic keratoses, what they are and how/when we treat them.

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