Keloids scars are usually asymptomatic but sometimes itchy and painful. They first starts with pink or red, firm rubbery that usually remains for several months and later untrolled growth occurs and becomes hyperpigmented and harder. The formation of keloid scar might also associated with other dermatological conditions so careful examination is required.
Keloid scar are difficult to treat. Many options are under use with or with out much success and chances of reccurence are frequent. Some of the options are discusses below.
Intralesional corticosteroids injection: This is often used as first line of treatment for keloid scar removal and has excellent results. Depending on the anatomic location high concentration of medication ( triamcinolone acetnide or diacetate ) is injected. Multiple injection over several months might be needed. Injection with combination with 5-flurouracil has been tried and has given more success results. It is injected once or twice weekly and later is decreased to monthly interval.
Silicone gels and occlusive sheeting: For small lesion once or twice daily application of Silicone or occlusive sheeting has given some success rates. This treatment has fewer side effects and patients can self apply themselves.
Cryosurgery: For some small lesions cryosurgery might be a good options too. Cryosurgery cause local ischemia and necrosis thus resulting in flattening of the scar. There might be few complications but not always which might be: hypopigmentation, edema, hypoesthesia and pain.
Surgical excision: For large keloids scar removal, surgical excision is the only effective options. It doesn’t completely remove the scar but makes it narrow and probably cosmetically acceptable. But excision might lead to reccurence of scar so topical therapy or even intralesional corticosteriods injection for several months with or without some skin lightening products might be needed after surgery for better result.
Laser Surgery: Laser surgery using CO2 or Nd:Yag have been tried but not much successful. Pulsed dye laser (585 nm) have shown some good results in keliod scars.
Intralesional bleomycin: Some study has suggested that using intralesional bleomycin has signuficient flattening of the scar.
i have suffered with keloids since the age of 13.Going through teenaged years was pure hell, because people dont realize that this is something your born with, it’s not something you go and purchase from the store;you dont have a choice in the matter and in most cases you dont realize that it will develope until its too late..i had to have surgery and was very close to not going thru with it because i didnt want yet another scar;but to my amazement my surgeon injected the incision and i didnt scar up and it even helped my previous scar..we are now scheduling more appointments..
i have suffered with keloids since the age of 13.Going through teenaged years was pure hell, because people dont realize that this is something your born with, it’s not something you go and purchase from the store;you dont have a choice in the matter and in most cases you dont realize that it will develope until its too late..i had to have surgery and was very close to not going thru with it because i didnt want yet another scar;but to my amazement my surgeon injected the incision and i didnt scar up and it even helped my previous scar..we are now scheduling more appointments..
I have 4 small keloids on my back. 3 years ago i got cortisone from my derm. They were very painful and for the next few years I chose to not get any further injections and instead put on Cordran tape which is a topical patch for my scars. They helped a little, they made my scars soften, and look a little better. However, the results were not significant enough for me so I went in for injections. I was very scared because I had a bad experience but the injections barely hurt !! The cordran had softened my scars to the point where the pain was definetly bareable.
I know how upsetting keloid scars are, I have suffered with them for years to my embarrassment (it always brings me down when I get insensitive questions “How did you get that?!”) and I shy away from certain clothing styles because of them. I would recommend getting the injections (if your scars are very hard then maybe Cordran tape can help) they flatten the scar and improve the appearance! I will later get laser treatments (they are not covered by insurance so they may run you $200 a session but I was told I only needed 2 sessions) which drastically reduce the redness.
I hope this helps someone!
Keloid Scar Removal…
Keloid scar are difficult to treat. Many options are under use with or with out much success and chances of reccurence are frequent….
There is no evidence that any of the stuff the previos comment mentions helps in any way. Vinegar (acid) could only do damage, vitamin E does little good and might actually make things worse. The rest can’t hurt but won’t help either. If you want to stay with non-invasive treatments I would suggest silicone sheets or silicone gel (e.g. Strataderm, Kelo-cote, Dermatix).
Keloid is a hypertrophic scar that causes a tissue overgrowth at the site of a healing wound. There is no perfect cure to Keloids, some home remedies can help like, Applying vinegar in the initial stages can help, Vitamin E is good, Consuming vitamin A, E and C, zinc supplements, fish oil, primrose oil will help. Avoid aspartame, gluten based foods, alcohol, white bread or flour, sour foods, coffee, sugar, peanut butter, dairy based products, garlic and vegetable oils.