Actinic Keratosis: Latest Treatment

Actinic Keratosis, also commonly referred to as AK’s, is the most common precancer that forms on skin damaged by chronic exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and/or indoor tanning. Reducing sun exposure can reduce your risk, but the development of AK’s takes years to form and have the risk of becoming cancerous if not treated. These actinic keratosis can usually be described as pink scaly patches on the skin. They may come and go, bleed on occasion, or just be a pesky dry spot on the skin that never goes away.

These lesions can be very difficult to treat at times. It depends on how many and where the AKs are. If you have just one to five AKs, then freezing them with liquid nitrogen is an excellent, quick and simple way to treat them. If you have more than 10 to 15 AKs scattered on your face, chest, or forearms, then a “blanket” or “field” type therapy may be better.

At WDC we strive to give to latest and most effective treatments to address this extremely common skin condition, which is why we’ve brought Ameluz with Red LED treatment to our practice.

Ameluz gel is a prescription drug designed to treat these actinic keratosis in combination with a red light photodynamic therapy in order to give higher clearance rates than the previously used Blue light treatment. The LED lamp used to emit red light provides clinically proven higher clearance rates showing 9 out of 10 patients receiving 1 or 2 treatments with total clearance of the treated AK’s. Not only are the clearance rates higher, but the time of treatment is significantly shorter than other light treatments on the market with the red lights ability to penetrate deeper into tissues, with times as short as 10 minutes!

Due to the unpredictable nature of potential AK formation into cancerous lesions, Ameluz Red light therapy treatment is also an effective was of preventing AK progression of future lesions. Ask your provider at WDC if you may be a candidate for Red light therapy and they will be happy to guide you through the simple process!