Seborrheic Keratosis Help!

@dida84 I am also plagued by SK. My recommendation is to have your doctor prescribe tazarotene 1% cream. Apply it twice a day for 3 months. You just apply a very tiny amount, I use a q-tip to apply it. It is expensive (I got it at target QVC for $44) with a coupon they had). It can be uncomfortable so just choose a few that bother you most.
Good luck it’s a long haul kind of thing,

@covidstinks2023

Hello, please provide the brand name for the amlactin cream. Is this on Amazon? Or who sells this.? I have never seen this product.

thanks

@alju It is the Amlactin Intensive Healing Cream with 15% lactic acid in the blue and white 12 oz jar. It is on Amazon for $21.99. You can get the lotion cheaper, but, I like the thickness of the cream. You have to be patient and consistent with applying it every day.

I hope it works for you. My Dermatologist was very encouraging with me about it. I only do a few places at a time and I have been very pleased with it.

I wish you the best with it. Prayers & Blessings...

Several years ago I had severe Seborrheic Keratosis on my scalp and eczema on my body. None of the home remdies worked; nor did the ointments and pills my PCP prescribed. Out of desperation, I consulted and Aryuvedic practitioner. (Aryuveda is the sister science of yoga, which focuses on balancing the body, mind, and spirit focusing on diet and herbal remedies). She advised me to use Winsoria oil (a proprietary Aryuvedic blend) on my scalp in the evening before bed. I'd rub a few drops in and let it sit for up to half an hour, then wash it out with shampoo. I started to feel a difference after a few days and within a few weeks, my scalp was clear - and has remained so ever since. Winsoria oil is available on the internet and it's not too expensive but with the current tariffs, shipping is high - but compared to the cost of prescription medications, it's not bad - and it was the only thing that actually worked. It also worked for my adult son a few years later when he suffered from Seborrheic Dermatitis. For the rash on my body, the Aryuvedic practitioner suggested I rub unrefined coconut oil on the affected areas in the evenings at the same time I treated my head with the Winsoria oil and to let it sit on the skin for up to a half hour, then to shower it off. After all the over the counter and prescription remedies I'd tried that didn't do a thing, I was desperate enough to try anything - even the messy and time consuming methods of gooping my hair with Winsoria oil and my body with coconut oil - and both were surprisingly effective! I would set up in the bathroom and either read or listen to a podcast while oils did their work - and few weeks later both the Seborrhea and the eczema were gone - and neither has returned. I began to feel the results just a few days in so I knew it was worth continuing. As my scalp and skin improved, I began to do the treatments just a few days a week and then eventually tapered off as I healed. I know how uncomfortable and unsightly these conditions can be so I hope you have as much luck with with Winsoria oil and coconut oil as I have!

@covidstinks2023

Thank you, I will look for this on Amazon.

@jodyarose

I’m curious, but was it medically diagnosed as SK, or could it be seborrheic dermatitis? Just in this short thread there are a handful of different kinds of creams and/or oils mentioned. I would love it if there was 100% agreement on just one product. It’s like different strokes for different folks. As far as I know I don’t have SK, but I have seborrheic dermatitis on my bald scalp, along with one Mohs surgical scar (head caved in with a baseball bat look) from 2023, and about 10 AK lesions mixed in. My head is like “40 miles of bad road”. For the AKs I have been using 3% diclofenac, because it’s gentle on the skin, and after having been cut, burned and frozen on the scalp I have told my doctor that I won’t go there again. He understands where my head is at – hence the diclofenac. If anyone is perhaps mistaking SK for dermatitis, then Clobetasol cream or lotion (a powerful steroid) for no more than two weeks twice a day is supposed to help. It has helped me somewhat, but then I haven’t used it as much as I should. I’m more concerned with the AKs. One already turned into SCC.

@19sfca47. My experience was from several years ago, I've moved a few times, and don't have immediate access to my medical records so it's possible I'm mis-remembering but I think the diagnosis for my head was SK. I did also have a rash on my body at that time, which my PCP called, "eczema" - and I understood (perhaps incorrectly) this to be another name for seborrheic dermatitis. One of the many prescriptions for my skin rash was Clobetesol and it didn't help my rash at all. I don't remember now if I tried diclofenac or not - but I did go a series of prescription creams and pills for the rash on my body. For my head, I tried several OTC shampoos with no luck but not specific prescription meds. By the time the rash on my head appeared, my PCP seemed to give up on my case and that's when I contacted the Aryuvedic practitioner. Apologies for not providing the specific info you seek; I wish I had better info to offer! FWIW, I know how sensitive Mohs surgical scars can be and I hope you find relief.

@jodyarose

I was surprised that an internet bought oil can get rid of SK, since the only difference between SK and AK is that SK is benign whereas AK is pre-cancerous (about 5-10% of the time). Therefore, the options that doctors usually give are the same options that they would for AK- cutting, freezing or burning the skin with a field treatment, or go gentler with 3% diclofenac. Then there is blur light (photo dynamic therapy). If your son had seborrheic dermatitis, then that supposedly can’t be cured, but only controlled. There is just too much production of skin yeast, which in turn causes oily skin. I wash my hair (or at least what’s left of it) every other day using four different anti-fungal shampoos. One of them (ketoconazole 2%) is a script. I alternate that with three others – Selsun Blue (with selenium sulfide), Nizoral (1% ketoconazole) and Neutrogena’s T/Sal. I have a less itchy scalp, and as for the dermatitis the regimen seems to be acting as a control agent - so far anyway.

My son and I both had SK (guessing this is what was on our scalps) and the doctor didn't recommend Winsoria oil; the Aryuvedic consultant recommended it. My doctor never got as far as suggesting cutting, freezing, or burning the skin. By the time I had my skin issues, I'd moved and she was consulting me remotely. Honestly, she didn't seem too engaged with my care once I was no longer local She had prescribed ketoconazole 2% and also recommended Selsum Blue, Nizoral, and T/Sal. Again, I had no luck with any of those. Nowadays my skin and scalp remain clear. I shampoo only once weekly and condition every other day. I do keep Nizoral on hand on a "just in case" basis, though. Since talking with you , I must admit I'm more confused than ever about what remedies work and the mechanisms behind that - but I'm to have found relief - and also glad your scalp is less itchy with your protocol.

@woobus yes, I have been using this for 3 weeks. It is working very well. I have about 30 SKs on my back and a couple had become so large and disfiguring I decided I must do something. In the first couple of weeks they swelled up (no pain or irritation, just as if expanding like a dry sponge in water) now they are shrinking and peeling. I have some itching and pinkness on surrounding skin but nothing I can't tolerate. The SKs are starting to lift on the edges from the normal skin and I have read how Tazarotene does this and it is expected. Tazarotene basically destablises the abnormal cells in an SK and they self destruct. I am expecting them to gradually drop like a scab and so am moisturising with an occlusive a couple of hours after the evening application to try to avoid the scabs coming off before the normal skin underneath the SKs is healed. Some of mine are very thick and a few inches wide so any scarring from the scabs pulling off too soon might be quite big.