Actinic keratosis is a skin disease caused by extensive exposure to sunlight. The problem may not manifest immediately. Those with fair skin and under immunosuppressive drugs can be at a risk. The areas affected gets small rough spots with occasional scaly crusts which can prove painful when they get rubbed with clothes and fingers.

The matter of real concern is that actinic keratosis may develop a malignant nature and can actually turn to squamous cell carcinoma. But such condition can be avoided if treated early.

It is not very difficult for the doctors to diagnose actinic keratosis. If the spots take some unnatural character like being larger than usual and having thick scales, then the doctor may go in for biopsy of the same.

It is just to make sure that actinic keratosis has not acquired and malignant nature. Once the doctor has confirmed actinic keratosis, he may suggest any of the possible treatments depending on the nature and severity of the ailment.

Cryosurgery or freezing the actinic keratosis with liquid nitrogen and letting it peel off is a very common process. Apart from this method, ordinary surgical methods like cutting or burning off actinic keratosis are also used by the doctors for treating the ailment.

Sometimes creams containing 5-fluorouracil or imiquimod are used to treat the disease. These creams first swell up the keratosis and then dries it so that it falls off naturally.

But the drawback of this type of treatment is that it prolongs the suffering and also increases the condition before actually giving relief. This method is generally used in cases where the patient has severe sun damage and the actinic keratosis has spread in many parts of the body.

The final result is quite good and the skin gets back its smooth surface. Using diclofenac gives lesser inflammation, but the treatment takes a minimum of two months to complete.

In similar cases where the actinic keratosis is widespread, photo-dynamic therapy is also used. In this process a light sensitive dye is introduced in the affected areas. After an hour the areas are exposed to light.

This activates the dye which stimulates the keratosis to fall off. But during such treatment the patient is prevented from exposure to direct sunlight and fluorescent light.

But prevention is always better than cure and that is the reason why you should avoid continuous exposure to sunlight.