For years I ignored a small red spot on my face and assumed it was a part of ageing. Then a doctor told me what it REALLY was. I’d never heard of it… but this is why you must get checked out

For over two years I ignored the small patch of scaly red skin on the top of my nose. It was easy to cover up, and although it itched occasionally, I assumed it would go away one day. I never thought that a small 1 cm long scar could be cancer.

After all, I thought I was a skincare expert who had worked for glossy magazines for over thirty years and tried various treatments in the name of beauty journalism.

And at 57, I expect my skin to fully show the life I’ve lived: I’m a Gen

Today, I am at peace with my wrinkles, sun spots, rosacea, and the inevitable collagen loss that comes with being post-menopausal.

But as I mature, the C-word comes to the fore, so I get my moles checked regularly, and as a blonde, pale-skinned person, I always use SPF 50. I consider myself knowledgeable when it comes to sun care – and yet I had never heard of actinic keratosis until I was serendipitously diagnosed three weeks ago.

I embarked on a painful treatment journey using a miracle cream to kill my potentially cancerous cells, which at one point left the skin on my face as if I had burned it with fire.

After visiting my GP earlier this month for a scar on my chest, I was referred to a dermatologist and five days later applied to see our family health insurance.

While examining me he told me that the red spot on my nose was ‘AK’ as actinic keratosis was affectionately known among the large online patient community I have since discovered.

After three weeks of using the cream, Lorraine’s face cleared up, leaving her skin looking healthier than ever.

AKs are precancerous cells caused by long-term sun exposure; They accumulate invisibly under the skin for many years until they harden and emerge. If you have fair skin and are over 40, your risk of getting skin cancer is higher. Your AKs may appear harmless, like dry red patches, or crusty warts, depending on factors such as your skin type, age, genes, and environment.

Unfortunately, it is not surprising to hear the word ‘cancer’ after the age of 50. My friends and I joke in our ‘Girls Aloud’ WhatsApp group that middle age is a time of ‘constant research’.

I had two benign breast cysts removed by the wonderful staff at Charing Cross Hospital last year, so I’d been through too recent an emotional roller coaster with the C word to panic. But I also knew that some of my friends’ diagnoses weren’t so positive, so my post-50 method was to stay calm and carry on.

In any case, AKs do not always turn into cancer, according to dermatologists, which is why this is a very confusing skin condition to explain. Some may be left untreated; The majority can be frozen or surgically removed.

Mine had to be treated with a method the internet has horribly labeled ‘chemo-cream’. If you Google it, you’ll come across a pit of horror, because this is the cream that lights up your face like a fiery demon and burns like hell. This also scares everyone you encounter in the pharmacy line (one of the women stepped back, visibly shocked, when she noticed my face under my hat).

This acute rash, caused by the care cream destroying the DNA of pre-cancerous cells, also worries your family, who witness your inflamed face every day.

About two days after starting treatment, I started to regret going to the GP because it was so painful. I found it impossible to imagine it would heal as small scabs formed and the skin fell off.

I couldn’t take a shower, I just wiped it gently with a damp cloth and gritted my teeth. I also had to stop going out for a week.

The only solace I took was watching Instagram and TikTok’s Generation X women and their ‘post-chemo cream’ selfies where their skin was positively glowing.

I was prescribed Tolak cream to be applied at night along with Calcipotriol cream for seven days.

Tolak cream is thick and sticky and comes out of the tube reluctantly, like a teenager loading the dishwasher.

You need to wear gloves to apply (otherwise repeated use may burn the tops of your fingers). The application is not as simple as it seems. You spray the cream on one area, but it continues its work overnight, looking for nearby pre-cancerous damage, which causes the rash.

It turned out that my pre-cancerous cells had spread to my cheeks and I was in constant pain for three days of my seven-day treatment. But NHS psychodermatologist Dr. As Alia Ahmed explained to me later, it’s a good thing that the cream found more cells on my face.

In fact, these were not visible, they were just hidden. ‘This particular cream will not affect your skin in any way unless there is something to treat,’ he said.

Only Eucerin’s Aquaphor cream helped relieve it. On day six, I had to record my podcast, Postcards From Midlife, on camera, so I went to Space NK for advice on covering up the rash.

A sympathetic beauty assistant covered the heavily moisturized area with a miracle product, Erborian redness Correct BB cream, and also recommended Eucerin’s Actinic Control SPF 100, which is specifically designed to help prevent actinic keratosis and is now my daily sunscreen. Who knew SPF 50 wasn’t high enough for middle-aged women?

I didn’t expect the treatment to sting this much, I wish I had researched more before applying it for the first few days.

Looking back, I would have canceled some things in my diary and purchased creams in advance to relieve the pain.

I definitely should have asked more questions at the dermatologist’s office. I’m also a little annoyed that my doctor didn’t mention it either, since it’s estimated to affect 28 percent of women over 40, according to a Google search (though studies vary).

Treating AKs is preventative, and women should not be afraid to get it checked. Dr. from St Bart’s Hospital. ‘Women often think, ‘Oh, it’s just red skin, I won’t bother anyone,’ but preventing skin cancer is high on our list of priorities as dermatologists,’ explains Alia Ahmed.

‘Right now, since the sun is out, AK diagnosis is at its peak and we notice our skin in more detail.

‘AKs really show off what your teenage skincare was like; this is a result of sun exposure from that point onwards, so we take this extremely seriously in people over 40 who may not have been as knowledgeable about sun care in their youth.

‘It also affects a lot of older men, especially their scalps. We can all benefit from early treatment for skin cancer. You don’t need to avoid going out in the sun after treatment, just continue to reapply high SPFs and wear a hat in the sun. I always say you aim to avoid tanning.

‘There are several ways to treat it under medical supervision. We try to prevent patches of skin from becoming lumpy, crusty, itchy or bleeding, as this could be a non-melanoma cancer, which could require more serious or invasive treatment. At your current stage, it is not a situation to panic about, but it is a condition that needs to be treated as early as possible.’

Today, the skin on which Tolak does his work looks brand new. It’s soft and clear, there’s no trace of red marks on my nose, and I’m happy to report that it looks much better than before. I’m so angry that I ignored it for so long.