Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra

Dermatosis papulosa nigra is a condition, not a disease, seen almost exclusively in blacks. It occurs in about one-third of all black people and is twice as common in women as in men.

What does it look like? Tiny, smooth, raised, mole-like spots that appear on the face and neck that are darker than the skin around them. Resembling flat warts, they begin around the age of puberty, are inherited, can vary in number from just a few to hundreds, and become more numerous as a person gets older. They never become malignant; in other words, they are not precancer­ous growths.

If you have a lot of these tumors and are unhappy with the way they look, a dermatologist can remove them simply and easily with a variety of methods.