Table of contents:
- What are keloids like?
- What causes keloids?
- When to see a doctor
- How do you deal with keloids?
- Conclusion
When your skin is injured, scar tissue forms over the wound to help repair and protect the damaged skin. In some cases, this scar tissue grows excessively, forming the soft, hard tissue known as keloids.
Keloids can be larger than the original wound. Usually, keloids can appear on sores on the chest, shoulders, earlobes, and cheeks. However, of course keloids can appear on any part of the body. Although keloids are not dangerous, for some people, especially women, of course the appearance of these scars can interfere with their appearance.
What are keloids like?
Here are some of the characteristics of keloids:
- Localized to an area of skin with a skin-like, pink, or reddish color.
- In the form of a prominent part of the skin.
- Usually it continues to grow bigger as time goes by.
- Sometimes it can feel itchy.
Keloids are usually larger than the original wound. These scars can take weeks or months to completely form.
Although it can be itchy, these scars are usually not harmful to your health. You may experience discomfort, pain, or even irritation from the shirt rubbing against your keloid. In rare cases, you can experience a lot of keloids in your body. When this happens, the hardened keloid tissue may restrict your movement.
ALSO READ: How To Get Rid Of Scars On The Face
Keloids cause more appearance problems than health. You may be irritated by keloids that are large and easily visible to people, such as your face or ears. In addition, sunlight can make your keloids darker than the skin around you, making them more visible. You can protect your scars when out in the sun to prevent discoloration.
What causes keloids?
Most skin lesions can cause keloids, such as:
- acne scars
- Burns
- smallpox marks
- piercing wound
- laceration
- surgical scars
- vaccine scars
According to American Ostepathic College of Dermatology, approximately 10% of the population has keloids, with men and women equally likely. Black people are more likely to develop keloids.
ALSO READ: 9 Natural Ingredients to Get Rid of Smallpox Scars
In addition, other risk factors for keloids include:
- Asian descent
- of Latin descent
- pregnant
- aged less than 30 years
Keloids are genetic, which means that if your parents had them, you are more likely to have them too. A study shows that a gene called AHNAK plays a role in determining whether a person can develop keloids or not. The researchers found that people who had the AHNAK gene were more likely to develop keloids than those who didn't.
If you know that you have risk factors for developing keloids, then you can avoid piercings, unnecessary surgery, or tattoos.
When to see a doctor
Keloids usually do not require special attention, but if they continue to get bigger, or you have other symptoms and want to get rid of them, you may need to consult a doctor. Keloid is a benign tissue, but uncontrolled growth can be a sign of malignancy.
After diagnosing keloids through a physical exam, your doctor may recommend a biopsy to rule out other conditions. A biopsy means taking a small piece of keloid tissue and examining it to make sure there are malignant cells.
How do you deal with keloids?
Keloids are the result of the body's efforts to repair itself. So, if you remove the keloid, there is a chance that the tissue will grow again, even in a larger size. Other methods you can use if you want to get rid of your keloids include:
- corticosteroid injection to reduce inflammation
- use a moisturizing oil to keep the tissue soft
- use of silicone gel after injury
- freeze tissue to kill skin cells
- laser therapy to reduce scar tissue
- radiation to shrink keloids
ALSO READ: How to Prevent Acne Scars
Doctors will usually recommend non-invasive therapy as initial therapy, such as using silicone, injection, or medication in wound dressings. All of these therapies require frequent and careful use for visible results.
If the keloid is very large, your doctor may recommend a surgical method. However, according to the Dermatology Online Journal, the chances of these keloids reappearing are very high, so your doctor may recommend that you undergo steroid injections after surgery to reduce this possibility.
Conclusion
Although rarely causing serious conditions, keloids can interfere with appearance. Treatment for keloids is usually difficult and not always effective. Therefore, if you have risk factors for keloids, it is important that you prevent skin sores from occurring.
