According to researchers at Stanford University, actinic keratoses (those dry, scaly, rough-textured patches on the skin caused by sun exposure) are so common that your average 40-something adult has eight of them! As they are essentially precancerous lesions, people usually have them removed at the dermatologist, but research shows you can get the job done simply by using a chemical peel. In the study at Stanford University, researchers gave 24 patients a chemical peel, a five-percent fluorouracil at-home cream peel, or laser skin resurfacing. All three worked equally well to remove the precancerous lesions, getting rid of about 90 percent of them.