Normally, ear piercings heal around the piercing stud and leave a smooth ear lobe with a hole in through it. People whose bodies form keloids are instead left with mounds of scar tissue, resembling bubbles or round growths. Doctors have a difficult time removing keloids because methods that temporarily damage the skin, like surgery, have the potential to cause more and larger keloids. Keloids also have a habit of coming back even when they're treated and removed. It may take several treatments before your doctor find the right one.
Step 1
Choose a removal method. The two most common methods are surgical excision and cryotherapy, or freezing. Success of these treatments depends on the aftercare provided to the wound site.
Step 2
Undergo corticosteroid injections into the wound immediately after your keloid is cut or frozen off. Repeat these injections at the wound site each month for up to six months or until your doctor determines they're no longer necessary, to help soften and flatten emerging scar tissue.
Step 3
Apply a standard dressing to the resulting wound, only until it closes.
Step 4
Cut a silicon bandage to fit your ear. Apply it snugly on top of the wound to help force the newly forming scar tissue flat. Change your silicon bandages every 12 to 24 hours. Continue this scar flattening therapy for three months, recommends "American Family Physician," a journal of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Step 5
Talk to your doctor about adding a 5 percent imiquimod topical cream to your treatment regimen. "American Family Physician" reports this medication also helps flatten and soften emerging scar tissue, making newly forming keloids appear less noticeable.
Step 6
Avoid tattoos, piercings and other activities that puncture your skin in the future. People who develop keloids in one area usually develop them in others.
