Keloid scars occur when a wound on the skin heals in an abnormal fashion. They most likely occur on the upper chest, shoulders and upper back. These scars are benign (not harmful) but can cause some symptoms such as skin discoloration, itching and pain. According to David T. Robles MD, PhD, while a majority of treatments exist for keloids, no single treatment has proven widely effective and combination therapy proves the best way to treat them, however regardless of treatment they have a very high percentage of recurrence.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy uses low temperatures or "freezing" on the area to decrease cell growth, therefore diminishing size and color of keloid scars. Several courses of cryotherapy may prove necessary to treat small keloid scars.
Steroid Injection
Steroid injections directly in the scar prove the most common treatment for keloid scars. Most patients can tolerate this procedure and it has a high degree of success. Dr. Robles says that steroid injections in keloid scars have about a fifty percent recurrence rate. This type of therapy may not prove feasible for extremely large keloids because several injections and high quantities of steroids many become necessary for proper treatment
Silicone gel sheets
Doctors apply silicone gel sheets directly to skin, in the area of the scar and leave them in place for twenty to thirty days. This treatment is totally non-invasive and painless. Silicone gel sheets have shown great success when used after a surgical excision of a keloid scar yield only a twenty to thirty percent recurrence rate.
Surgical Excision
Surgical excision has a high success rate for the treatment of keloid scars; however, patients choosing this course for treatment should become aware of the consequences. Surgical excisions offer immediate gratification because the unsightly scar no longer exists. Consequently, as the surgical incision heals, a larger even more unsightly scar may develop. If surgical excision of a keloid scar is the chosen form of therapy, the surgical incision should be treated with a silicone gel sheet to try to prevent recurrence.
Home Treatments
There are several products on the market today that claim to reduce the ugliness of scars including creams, antiseptics and antibiotics. However not everyone will have success with these treatments.
Salt water has made a difference in keloid scar treatment and has yielded many positive results. However users should use actual water from the sea and not everyday salt mixed with water to achieve the best results, according to KeloidScarTreatment.com.
