Keloids can be treated, so it is not a condition you have to continue living with. The treatment involves superficial radiation and is incredibly effective in removing keloid scars. Keloid removal with the SRT-100TM has a success rate that is over 90%.
A keloid scar isn't harmful to your physical health, but it can cause emotional distress. Prevention or early treatment is key.
Remember that keloids aren't harmful or a sign of cancer. So there's no medical reason to have them removed. But if you would like to pursue the idea because they cause discomfort or you simply don't like the way they look, there are some options out there.
Cover the wound with Vaseline or Aquaphor to keep it moist. Use a silicone gel pad or pressure pad to reduce the risk of developing a keloid scar. Follow your doctor's instructions for wound care after any surgery or procedure. Use these methods for six months after an injury if you're an adult.
Keloids can continue to grow for months or even years. They eventually stop growing but they do not disappear without treatment. In some cases, as mentioned above, keloids can return after they have been removed.
No, keloids do not turn into cancer.
The associated risk of keloid removal depends on the chosen modalities used during treatment, age of the scars and the patient's skin type. One of the most common problems patients report after keloid removal is new scar tissue forming post surgery.
Keloids and hypertrophic scars are caused by cutaneous injury and irritation, including trauma, insect bite, burn, surgery, vaccination, skin piercing, acne, folliculitis, chicken pox, and herpes zoster infection.
After your skin is injured, your cells try to repair it by forming a scar. In some people, the scar tissue keeps forming long after the wound heals. This extra scar tissue causes the raised area on your skin that is called a keloid.
Ear keloids are a type of scar tissue, so there isn't any pus to squeeze out, like a pimple. Trying to pop a keloid on your ear can damage your skin and introduce bacteria, which can cause an infection.
In some instances, a surgeon may recommend removing a large hypertrophic scar or keloid. Keloids that far exceed the margins of the original wound, for example, require removal to allow surgeons to reconstruct the surrounding skin and tissue and restore as much of the underlying structure as possible.
The cost of keloid removal ranges from $75 to upward of $2,000 depending on the type and duration of treatment. Keloid removal is considered a cosmetic procedure, therefore is not usually covered by health insurance.
Keloids are a result of aberrant wound healing. Standard wound healing consists of three phases: (1) inflammatory, (2) fibroblastic, and (3) maturation.
Bio-Oil Skincare Oil has been clinically proven to improve the appearance of many types of scars1, but its impact on keloid scars can be limited due to their nature. Unlike any other type of scarring, keloid scars are raised and spread beyond the original area of skin damage. This could be minor or major.
Once you have them, keloids are notoriously difficult to eliminate and have a very high chance of re-growing once they are surgically cut out. This is because the body is likely to respond in the same exaggerated way to this surgery as it did to the initial injury.
Larger keloids can be flattened by pulsed-dye laser sessions. This method has also been useful in easing itchiness and causing keloids to fade. Pulsed-dye laser therapy is delivered over several sessions with 4 to 8 weeks between sessions. Your doctor might recommend combining laser therapy with cortisone injections.
Keloid surgery: Your dermatologist can surgically cut out the keloid. While this may seem like a permanent solution, it's important to know that nearly 100% of keloids return after this treatment. To reduce the risk of a keloid returning after surgical removal, most patients have another treatment after surgery.
They generally continue to grow over years and possibly decades.
There is minimal discomfort after keloid removal. Patients can often return to work immediately following the procedure.
Keloid disease is considered a genetic disease due to a strong genetic susceptibility to keloid formation as it occurs predominantly in people of African and Asian descent, runs in families, and has been found in twins.
When a keloid first appears, it's often red, pink, or slightly darker than your natural skin tone. As it grows, it may darken. Some become lighter in the center and darker at the edges.
Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans is an extremely rare condition that can be confused with keloid, especially if growing to the size of 50 mm or not healing anyway (1, 4, 5, 7). In such cases, a detailed investigation covers core biopsy and CT-imaging to achieve an exact tissue evaluation.
While keloids are a type of scar tissue, they can grow much larger than the wound. Once a keloid forms, it can grow over several months or even years, overshadowing the original injury.