Keloids scars

Has anyone has any luck in removing or reducing keloids?

When I lived in NYC I was going to a dermatologist who was giving my keloids injections of steroids at $185 each visit. It finally got too pricey so I stopped.

I moved over to the UK and found that they have this wonderful thing called Nationalized health care! I had to go on the waiting list for 6 months but I finally started treatment last August (5 months ago).

I didn't realize the progress I made until I looked at a photo from 5 years ago. Wowowo what a difference! Will post pics later.

Anyone else had any luck with this?

Hey AngiePie, I had a keloid removed this past summer. The injections are indeed pricey!

Hi Joss,

How did you have the keloid removed?

Here are my pics

2006
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2010
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I had the keloid removed by surgical excision and pressure dressing to follow up. When I go back my dermatologist looks to see the site looks like it's bigger and if so she injects it with cortisone.

I've also had mine removed. I had them in my earlobes. I got surgery to get them removed and my insurance covered the whole thing. I apply pressure to them daily via my magnetic earrings (I can no longer have pierced ears, they forced me to let the holes close up ) . I used to get cortisone injections, but they weren't making a huge difference since my keloids were fairly large. I get them sometimes now if I feel like the keloids are swelling a bit (I still have very small keloids in my ear from getting the surgery to remove the keloids).

There are 3 noted treatments for keloid removal. Often, they are treated when health care professionals inject steroid to reduce characteristics such as redness of the skin, itching, and burning. Shrinking of the scar is hoped for in some cases. This is the non-surgical treatment.

However, the surgical removal of a keloid is used if there is no chance for a steroid treatment. The tissue of the scar will be cut out and the wound stitched with a single or multiple layers of stitches to close the wound. This is usually done as an outpatient procedure and can be performed under local anesthetics. You will be back to work within a day or two and the stitches are removed after a few days.

The last approach in removing a rasied scar is by using both or a mixture of surgical and steroid injections. First, a surgery or removal of the tissue is done with a couple of steroid injections and another set of steroid injections after three to four weeks. Radiation is also used to interfere with the collagen production. This approach is more effective. But, radiotherapy and steroid both have side effects, so you need to discuss this with your doctor. It is also effective to get a second opinion before proceeding with this treatment.

Whatever approach you take, keloids have a stubborn habit of recurring, and to make it worse, become larger than before. The most used and offered removal is by steroid injection, direct application of steroids during surgery, or by radiation therapy. Sometimes, you may be asked to wear a pressure garment within the area as long as a year. Even with these precautions, this type of scar may reappear, requiring a repetition of procedures after every few years.

Keloids can be considered Scars, is a tough heaped up scar that rises quite abruptly the rest of the skin. It usually has smooth top and pink or purple colour. Keloids are irregularly shaped and enlarge progressively.