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invino1977
10 Posts |
 Posted - 07/17/2010 : 03:45:46
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Hello,
I went to the dermatologist yesterday and he said the spot on my lip was an actinic keratosis/cheilitis. He burned it off with a diode laser - this must be different than a CO2 laser, I live in Italy - so not sure what exactly it was. But he was pretty confident and said, "shoudln't come back"....so, i am hoping not - does anyone have any info on this laser therapy? I saw that Aetna covers laser therapy when cryo-surgery and topical immoquod etc. have failed, making me think that laser therapy is stronger and more effective - but also more expensive.
He really emphasized the need for me to use 50 or more sunblock on my lips and face - so I went and bought a really natural one, I have to say, I know that sunscreen may even promote skin cancer but when a doctor insists that I use it, it makes me worried not to.
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dan
611 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2010 : 01:33:50
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Hi invino1977, it is great news that you got your AC treated! The laser treatment seems pretty easy (from my vantage point across the ocean), I hope it works well for you.
I think of cancer prevention in terms of three categories that cancer requires to develop. The first is genetic damage which sunscreen probably helps. But sunscreens can give a false sense of security by preventing sunburn but not preventing genetic damage from wavelengths that are not filtered.
The second need of cancer is female hormones. Ultraviolet screening products could have an unintended side effect of increasing estrogenic activity. From http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/72893.html
Using breast cancer cells growing under artificial conditions, i.e. not
within an animal, they found that five of six chemicals used in
sunscreens caused the cells to multiply faster than would have been
otherwise expected. This is something that estrogen would do, hence
the effect is called estrogenicity.
In another example, they found that one of the chemical's effects was
blocked by an estrogen antagonist, that is a chemical that stopped
estrogenic activity. They inferred from this that if a chemical was
blocked by an anti-estrogen, it could well have estrogen-like
properties.
In still another example, the researchers reported that several of
the sunscreen ingredients caused uterine weight to increase in rats.
The authors of this research comment state that their "findings
indicate that UV screens should be tested for endocrine activity, in
view of possible long-term effects in humans and wildlife."
The final category is cancer needs a compromised immune system. I think most doctors are clueless about this category. Otherwise they would at the very least recognize the importance of vitamin D in preventing cancer, among dozens of other easy to incorporate strategies. Sunscreens block vitamin D synthesis very effectively.
There is a place for occasional use of sunscreens, but in my opinion a greater emphasis should be placed on a greater goal of invasive cancer prevention, of which skin cancer is a subset.
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invino1977
10 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2010 : 02:35:36
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Thanks Dan. Well, the area that he burned off has healed, there is still an "uneven" zone...we are talking about a couple of millimeters, but i assume that is the new/burned skin still healing. It would be pretty strange for it to come back after only a week right? Of course I get so paranoid so easily. I was thinking of using Frankinscence oil on the lip and face just as a preventative - has anyone tried that here?
Hopefully the lip will stay healed, i have been wearing a visor in the sun and 50 sunblock - but very natural stuff, the protection is zinc and titanium dioxide - I know these have issues too, but i figure they are better than the conventional chemicals. Also,t he cream has alot of herbal extracts including rosemary and lemon..so, hopeing it will be a good thing.
Thanks! Invino |
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invino1977
10 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2010 : 13:48:38
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Update - I have been keeping the lip covered since the laser treatment. the scab fell off and new skin was undersneath. that skin, seems to be tender still, and sometimes tingles. The doc said i can expect fully healed normal skin withina month from surgery - we are in week 3...so, I am trying NOT to scare myself that the tingling and tenderness are a return of the keratosis. oh god i hope not.
after laser removal if it were to come back? what does that mean? could I try the suneze creams? another laser? my anxiety is a bit out of control. |
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dan
611 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2010 : 16:43:12
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| invino1977, I think for now the thing to do is simply wait and see if it does heal. If not, your doctor will have a recommendation for you to consider, or you can try to tackle it with topicals and preventive measures if you do not like the doc's proposal. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience so far with the diode laser treatment and hopefully we will get more updates from you. |
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sambru
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2011 : 11:59:31
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| I was thinking of using Frankinscence oil on the lip. |
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Diode Laser
