How to Treat Keloids!

What are keloids?

Keloids are overgrowth of scar tissue after an injury has been healed. Fibrous tissues are formed over the wounds to repair the injury. But sometimes extra scar tissue grows over the healed injury forming hard smooth growths called as keloids.
However keloids can appear at any part of the body but most commonly keloids appear on chest, earlobes, shoulders, jawline. Though keloids have no harmful effect over the body but it causes cosmetic concerns.

Risk factors

• Keloids are common in men and women.
• Keloids are less common in children and the elder.
• Melanin also has direct relation with keloids as people with darker skin are more develop them.
• In some cases, the tendency to from keloids seems to run in families.
• People with blood group a are more prone to develop keloids as compared to other blood groups.

Complications

• There is no complication as such but sometimes due to trauma the keloid may be predisposed to localized bacterial infection.

Symptoms and causes

Symptoms

• Keloids are raised, shiny and dome-shapedgrowth.
• The color may vary from pink to red.
• Some keloids are quite large and unsightly.
• Keloids may have itching also.
• Swollen blood vessels in the skin.

Causes

• A keloid is caused by an excess of a protein (collagen) in the skin during healing.
• Keloids are a variation of the normal skin’s healing process, usually deep skin wounds, upon trauma.
• Excessive proliferation of normal tissue result in keloids.
• Any skin injury may contribute to keloid formation like acne scars, piercings, chickenpox scars, surgery scars, vaccination sites etc.

Diagnosis and treatment

Diagnosis

• Visual appearance is enough for diagnosing a keloids. Keloids are often lumpy or ridged. The scar rises after an injury or condition has healed. Keloids develop most often on the chest, back, shoulder, and earlobes. They seldom develop on the face except for jawline.

Treatment

• Conventional treatment includes surgery, laser, cryotherapy, cortiosteroid injections, radiation, silicone gel or sheeting. But they seldom help and sometimes make the situation worse as the keloid reappears and sometimes double in size. So homeopathic medicines are best option for treatment of keloids.

Management

• If the body has tendency for keloid formation then injuries should be avoided that could lead to scarring.
• Patient should be advised to use pressure pads or silicone pads on the injury areas.
• Over exposure to sun should be avoided by the patient as melanin reduction would make the situation worse.
• Avoid further trauma to the keloid
• Don't cut the keloid.
• Take homeopathic medicines.

Homeopathic management

Homoeopathic medicines like thiosinaminum, graphites, silicea, nitric acid, fluoric acid, causticum, calendula etc have wondrous results in treatment of such cases depending on the case and the patient. Medicines should always be taken after consulting the doctor.

Do’s and don’ts

Do’s

• Apply a protective silicone sheet or pressure pads over the affected area.
• Use sunscreen while going out in sun.
• Take healthy diet.
• Keep the keloid moisturised.

Don’ts

• Don’t make incisions across joints, which are high stress area for skin.
• Don’t make tight sutures as it would increase tension at wound site and may trigger overscarring.
• Don't get the keloids further traumatized as it would increase the size of the keloids.
• Don't go for surgical removal of keloids or for corticosteroids.