Seborrheic Keratosis: Treatment Overview
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Treatment Overview
Seborrheic keratoses do not require treatment, because they are not cancerous or otherwise damaging to your health. However, if a seborrheic keratosis causes pain and discomfort or causes you concern about your appearance, your health professional can remove it. Your treatment choices are:
- Cryotherapy, the use of extreme cold to remove seborrheic keratoses. Cryotherapy is the preferred treatment for most seborrheic keratoses.1 It is effective for flat or slightly raised growths, but may not work well for thicker growths.
- Curettage, in which your health professional uses a spoon-shaped instrument (curette) to remove the growth. Regrowth is common after curettage alone.
- Electrocautery (or electrodesiccation), which sends a low-voltage electrical charge through the tip of a needle to burn off a growth. This treatment is sometimes combined with curettage.
- Excision, the removal of the growth with a scalpel after your doctor injects a local anesthetic. Excision may cause scarring.
- Laser, an intense beam of light that burns and destroys the growth.
What To Think About
Your doctor can tell you which treatments are best for your seborrheic keratosis, based on its type, size, and location. Be aware that your health insurance may consider seborrheic keratosis removal an elective procedure.
After a seborrheic keratosis is removed, the wound may be painful for a few days. Your doctor will tell you how to care for the wound as it heals. You may need to clean the area regularly and apply antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.
Removal of seborrheic keratoses usually does not cause scarring. However, cryotherapy, electrocautery, or laser treatment may cause permanent lightening of darker skin. Factors that may slow healing include advanced age, sun damage, and tobacco smoking.
| Last updated: | March 16, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Randall D. Burr, MD - Dermatology |
| Editors: | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC |
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