If you have a red, raised scar that seems to keep growing even though the original injury has healed, then it may be a keloid scar. Keloids are the most difficult type of scars to get rid of, because keloid-prone skin will often generate a brand new one if the original scar is cut off. However, you don't have to just live with any unsightly, annoying keloid. A good dermatologist can help you keep it from continuing to enlarge and flatten it to a point where it is much less noticeable. Here are two techniques dermatologists use today to flatten stubborn keloids.
1. Steroid Injections
Don't let the word steroid scare you, because having your keloid injected with a cortisteroid is very safe and doesn't produce the side effects that cortisteroids taken by mouth can. A cortisteroid called kenalog is most often used for keloids, and just one careful injection of this medication can flatten a smaller keloid completely. Cortisteroid injections also keep the keloid from growing larger and becoming even more cumbersome.
If you have a larger keloid, your dermatologist may first opt to remove it by excising it, which means cutting it off. While just cutting off a keloid alone often leads to it returning, by first excising it, and then injecting kenalog into it, your dermatologist can make it much less likely to return. They may have you come back into the office for further injections, often every two weeks or every month, until they are sure that they keloid is gone for good.
2. Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is used to remove any array of stubborn skin growths, and it is another option for treating keloids. To administer cryotherapy, your dermatologist will first numb your keloid with either a topical numbing agent or injection. Then, a small needle is inserted into the scar and liquid nitrogen is pumped into it to freeze it. If you have a very small keloid, your dermatologist may opt to simply spray the liquid nitrogen on it instead of injecting it. Freezing the keloid basically kills the tissue the keloid is made of, so your body stops sending blood supply to it. It then gradually flattens on its own.
Like cortisteroid injections, one session of cryotherapy is often enough to flatten a new or small keloid for good. Larger or older keloids that are more stubborn may need more than one treatment, and if your keloid is not completely gone about one month after your first cryotherapy session, your doctor will likely advise another one each month until it is gone.
If you suspect or know that you have a keloid, then realize that although just cutting it off will likely lead to it returning, there are many treatment options today that can eliminate it for good. Visit a dermatologist clinic that can examine your scar to ensure it is truly a keloid and form a plan with you to get rid of it for good.
Share16 December 2015
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