Age warts

How to recognize age warts

Age warts or senile warts (verrucae seborrhoicae) are wart-like, roundish to oval skin nodules, They are usually small. Only rarely are they palm-sized. Age warts develop individually or in majority in many people in old age (occasionally in young adults). They arise mainly in the face, on the upper body (chest and back), on the backs of the hands and on the front sides of the arms and legs. Warts on the palms and soles, on the other hand, never age warts, but other types of warts.

Note: The medically correct term for age warts is seborrheic keratosis or basal cell papilloma.

Age warts are sharply limited and more or less sublime, Your Color is variable: There are both lighter specimens as well as brownish to near black age warts. Its surface is dull, fenced and rugged in advanced condition. You feel greasy / talgig at.

Because senile warts can look so variable overall, experts differentiate between different forms of appearance. Some examples:

• Acanthotic seborrheic keratosis: Broad-based, more pigmented, hemispherical, warty wart, usually occurring singly. Often with yellowish-brown horn beads.
• Verrucous (hyperkeratotic) seborrheic keratosis: pale gray skin tumors that are often the size of cherries and have a wart-like surface.
• Stucco Keratosis: flat, unpigmented, lentil-sized papules with a rough, whitish surface on lower legs, back of the feet, forearm extended sides and backs of the hands.
• Pedunculated age warts: This type is found around the eyes as well as in the body folds.
• Irritated seborrheic keratosis: red, scaly, painful age warts after mechanical irritation (such as tight-fitting clothing).

Age warts: cause

The cause of senile warts is still unclear. However, the small, benign skin tumors are not caused by viruses like the real warts (verrucae). They are therefore too non-infectious.

So you can remove age warts

Age warts do not necessarily have to be removed – they are harmless and usually cause no complaints.

Depending on the localization, it may be that the age warts mechanical irritation are exposed – for example, by clothes rubbing against it. Then, going to the doctor may be advisable to have the age warts removed. The same applies if the person affected the sborrheic warts as cosmetically disturbing feels.

The removal of skin lesions is also necessary if the diagnosis is unclear – the doctor is therefore not sure whether it is actually harmless age warts or skin cancer.

Remove age warts: Different methods

There are several ways to treat age warts: they are often treated with a special medical device (sharp spoon, curette). You can also have a seborrheic wart with one Scalpel or laser remove. In a pedunculated seborrheic keratosis can be the “skin appendage” with a so-called electric sling remove.

Remove age warts: What does not work

Some people would like to remove their own wart by treating it externally like true warts – for example, with ointments, active ingredient patches or solutions that dissolve the horny layer (keratolytic preparations). But this does not work for senile warts. So if you want to get rid of your age warts, you have to go to the doctor.

Age warts: not to be confused with …

Malignant skin tumors: A doctor can usually detect age warts easily by their appearance. However, there are skin lesions that resemble senile warts and must be excluded in unclear cases. These include, in particular, malignant skin tumors such as black skin cancer (malignant melanoma). To determine whether it is a seborrheic wart or a malignant skin proliferation, the doctor takes a tissue sample. It is examined in the laboratory.

Precursors of skin cancer: A precursor of skin cancer is actinic keratosis. This refers to persistently reddened, rough skin changes due to too much sunlight for a long time. You may be mistaken for age warts.

fibroids: A fibroma is a benign, harmless proliferation of connective tissue that attaches to Age warts can remember.