Senile warts and difficult names...

I guess I was thinking of political correctness a little differently and not in a negative sense. We now use words like differently abled and cognitively challenged, we have friends who are little people and parents who have Alzheimer's or dementia.... I think all of us over the age of 50 know lots of the alternative labels for those things (and many others) that used to be in common usage.

I don't think this has to do with "political correctness".

I think terms like "incompetent os" have to do with the male orientation of medicine for the past millenia.

The diagnosis "Incontinence" is on my medical chart.
What, am I wearing diapers? NO!
Sneezing, or even coughing may cause a little leak, as in many women over age 65. This is called "Stress incontinence".

LL, google it, there are salves available at reasonable cost. I have not tried it personally, just found the method when googling today. But, it sounds like it takes persistence, months to get rid of. Can't imagine a bill of $618 to get rid of one! I have had doc use liquid nitrogen on them in groups, a couple of times, I have plenty and receive a bill of 21.00 each time.

Well hell, my mother has a GIGANTIC 'senile wart' on her hand, between two fingers, that she's called the doctor in on about 20x already! I'm STILL getting a bill for $618 for 'removal' of the damn thing over 2 years ago. It may have fallen off, but it grew back immediately and is still present on her hand. Medicare did not pay for this removal, and neither am I. So I've been going back & forth with the doctor's office and just told them to take my mother to COLLECTIONS, for petesake! Putting an OTC wart remover solution on her hand does not warrant a $618 bill, sorry Charlie. Mother is chronically 'picking' at the thing, but it is more persistent than she is. She HAS had A LOT of exposure to the sun, and still sits outside in the sun daily here in Colorado which is 1 mile closer to the sun......and is as brown as a walnut to prove it. She still thinks the sun is 'healthy' for her..........ha.

Glad..........so you are saying to open up a D Vitamin caplet and rub the oil on the wart to get rid of it? Nothing else has worked so we've given up trying.

I had to look that one up Barb :)

A lot of the politically correct words are the result of older words having been overused as labels to reinforce stereotypes - medical terms like senile and incompetent often sound cruel when taken out of context.

My docs always called them keratosis - senile warts is kind of archaic, I never saw the term until I was googling. Mom's whole forehead was disfigured with them, one doc said she's be able to put her kids through university treating them 😂. Kidding aside, liquid nitrogen is an easy treatment and yes, those wart or skin tag home treatment kits do work on small ones.

Incompetent Os.

Senile wart = seborrheic kerotosis. Not skin tags, can get quite large and unsightly. Many think it is a cancerous condition, but are benign. They can mimic a skin cancer so it is important to have them looked at. Cider vinegar may work, but usually burns the skin before being effective. Doc told me one patient tried the cider vinegar route and it turned out the lesion was a cancer not a SK.

Newest treatment for SK is food grade hydrogen peroxide. I think that is something like 30-40% not the 3% bought at the drug store. This is elective so not covered by insurance. Some effective results over time with topical vitamins D. Strange to think about, Sun exposure causes SK, Sun a main source of Vitamin D.

Which is easier to say and remember? Senile wart or seborrheic kerotosis? Then there is actinic ketosis, which is precancerous.

Margaret,

Is a senile wart the same as what we now call a skin tag? I have never heard the term senile watt before.

Supposedly, apple cider vinegar dries them up.

Riverdale,

I totally agree with your comments. I think things become so ‘matter of fact’ for physicians that they don’t realize how they are communicating with their patients or the caregivers.

I don't know of specific labels that bother me but I have a problem with a few doctors who tell me about how terribly bad off my mother is in regards to certain conditions. I am fully aware of this and have not indicated that I am not. The shelf life is expiring slowly in many areas. I am much more comfortable with doctors who communicate or explain such to me in a reasonable manner rather than ones who tell me how bad a situation is that really can't be helped. These doctors are dealing with the elderly. I don't represent myself to them expecting the fountain of youth to create miracles. In at least one instance I switched to a different doctor because I did not want to continue to hear about how many problems my mother has. I am fully aware of all of them. There are forces keeping her alive and I accept that and I simply do my best to take her to necessary specialists for any treatment possible.

Well, this isn’t a medical term but I hate the terms Old Maid and Spinster for unmarried women. I think the card game still exists. Gosh, we played it all the time as kids.

I remember my great aunt being called an Old Maid because she never married. She was engaged once but he was killed in the war.

Those names make me feel sad that an unmarried woman would be called that.

Men didn’t have any negative name like that. They are referred to as bachelors.