What should you know about melanoma seborrheic keratosis?

Seborrheic keratoses are often waxy, rough, or stuck-on growths that may be tan, brown, or very dark. Their surface can become irritated by clothing or scratching. Melanoma may also be uneven in colour or texture, so a visual label is not dependable when a lesion is new, changing, bleeding, or unlike the others.

A clinician uses the history and examination to decide whether observation is reasonable or tissue should be tested. Removing a lesion can both treat irritation and provide material for pathology when the diagnosis is uncertain.

Book a skin assessment for a growth that changes size, shape, colour, surface, or sensation. Do not burn, cut, freeze, or scrape it at home. Note when it appeared and whether it catches on clothing, bleeds, crusts, or becomes painful.

If removal is appropriate, options may include cryotherapy, curettage and cautery, or electrosurgery. The selected method depends on the growth's thickness, site, symptoms, pigmentation, and diagnostic certainty.

Arrange prompt medical review for a rapidly changing, bleeding, ulcerated, very dark, or persistently itchy growth. Seek urgent help for bleeding that will not stop or signs of infection such as spreading redness, warmth, pus, or fever.

Ask what features support seborrheic keratosis, whether dermoscopy or a biopsy is needed, what removal method fits the site, and how the area should be cared for afterward. Ask which changes should trigger another examination.