# What might have been my uncle's skin condition?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 15, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252 "2010-04-15T20:22:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252/1 "2010-04-15T20:22:21Z")
My uncle had hardened scarry/scabby type tissue on the backs of his hands that would crack. He worked outside most of his life, so I presumed that it was cumulative results of sun damage, but maybe not. He never went to the doctor about it, and just lived with it, whatever it was.
Any informed or uninformed opinions welcome.
And if there’s any concern about medical advice, he died in 1976.
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252/2 "2010-04-15T20:31:59Z")
Was it just on the backs of his hands? It could have been psoriasis, but it probably wouldn’t just be there. It could have been a lot of precancers, or actinic keratoses, if he had a lot of sun exposure and no medical treatment for them. Or it could have been some sort of hyperkeratotic condition, where the skin overgrows and becomes hard and scabby.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252/3 "2010-04-15T20:53:36Z")
Well, I think he also had some scarry places on back of his forearms, too.
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252/4 "2010-04-15T21:09:30Z")
[Here](http://www.midlifebachelor.com/images/actinickeratosis-hand.png) are precancers- they are roundish, pink, scaly, and flaky.
[This](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fromyourdoctor.com/ext/seborrheic_keratoses1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fromyourdoctor.com/topic.do%3Ftitle%3DSeborrheic%2BKeratosis%26t%3D2134&usg=__6WINPBkwwvBxU1nkDtSwzYc7Wq8=&h=400&w=600&sz=31&hl=en&start=1&itbs=1&tbnid=iYCujgggJOYKyM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkeratoses%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1) is what benign seborrheic keratoses look like.
[This](http://www.enaturalhealth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/tips-to-improve-psoriasis1.jpg) is psoriasis.
The hyperkeratotic skin can be disturbing, so I won’t link- just googleimage those words and you’ll see.
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### Author:  [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252/5 "2010-04-15T21:15:03Z")
Google ‘Tree man’ (squick warning) Warts gone amok.
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### Author:  [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-might-have-been-my-uncles-skin-condition/536252/6 "2010-04-15T21:30:29Z")
Sounds like psoriasis, eczema, or maybe a type of ichthyosis (I have a very mild form of ich. vulgaris, my dad’s is more troublesome - he always had thick scaly skin prone to cracking and bleeding on his hands and feet, as well as scaling and flaking elsewhere). Google at your own risk!