An angry rash spotted on the back of President Donald Trump’s neck on Monday sparked rumors aplenty, given Trump’s advanced age, refusal to share his health records, persistent bruising, swollen ankles, covert MRIs, and increasing propensity for falling asleep during meetings.
The White House told HuffPost Trump is “using a very common cream” and described it as “a preventative skin treatment” that will cause redness “for a few weeks.”
Which is descriptive ― but deliberately sidesteps diagnosing the condition itself.
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So what’s actually going on?
Dr. Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, a double board certified dermatologist, was willing to speculate.
“Based on the description and the information provided by the White House, the most likely explanation is that the president is undergoing treatment for actinic (sun-induced) skin damage, often referred to as actinic keratoses commonly described as ‘pre-cancers,’” she said.
They are indeed very common, she said, especially among individuals who’ve spent a lot of time in the sun, and especially on skin surfaces that receive the most ultraviolet rays.
It would be reasonable to assume that Trump, an avid golfer, might have sprouted a few of the damaged cells on his neck.
Just because the cells are described as “pre-cancers” doesn’t mean they’re actually cancerous.
“While they are not skin cancer, they are considered precancerous because a small percentage can progress to squamous cell carcinoma over time,” she said.
The fact that it’s localized to Trump’s neck also likely means it’s a targeted treatment rather than a systemic issue. And while Trump reportedly takes around 325mg of Aspirin a day, she said that’s unlikely to be the culprit here.
Dr. Anthony Rossi, an attending dermatologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, separately concurred.
Rossi ventured a guess that Trump is using one of two commonly prescribed topical chemotherapy medications, such as “5 Flurouracil or topical immunomodulator imiquimod.”
Both creams are typically used from two to four weeks and cause what Rossi described as a “red scaling reaction” that aligns with what’s visible on Trump’s neckline.
“Those with fair skin, light hair, light eyes and chronic UV exposure or tanning are most at risk for these actinic keratoses, precancers,” he said.
Both doctors emphasized that without examining a patient directly, and/or confirmation from the White House itself, they’re able to offer only educated clinical impressions.