Treatment for keloid scars...please help me!

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

#46
i've had keloid scars on my shoulder and chest for 12 years and i think i've tried just about everything: silicone gel patches, injections, even makeup.

i recently got steroid injections once every month for about 3 months in the scar on my shoulder, and i combined this with massaging vigorously or 'blanching' (pressing so hard on the scar that it turns white for a second) with a silicon gel called Dermatix.

i was really sceptical about it all and didnt expect anything - but seriously its completely flat now ! so pleased. the colour is still there but i would recommend this to anyone !

also, DONT get surgery - it will result in a bigger scar if you're prone to keloids.
 
#47
I have several keloids and mederma helped me to flatten out one and greatly reduce others.

Now I'm doing cortisone shots, which I hope will help. It seems to work good on my knee and my chest. (i.e they are pretty flat now. It works faster than medicine does for me.)

I'm just concerned with the colour. What can help the colour of keloid scar?

P.S. I'm prepared to be patient. :P
 
#48
I started getting injections of something called Kenelog (sp?), or something like that. Totally helping to flatten them, but they are still discolored. I was thinking of buying a tat concealor to try and hide them.

I've had three injections of this Kenelog stuff so far, and only one is noticeably different. I guess you do have to be patient!
 
#49
ilovehoneybleu said:
OMG - just googled it and it looks fantastic for scars. Definitely gonna try it out and I'll let you know the results. I'm desperate at this point =)
Click to expand...


please post an update thread to let us know how it works because i have a keloid scar on my left shoulder from chicken pox. i've had it for like 14 years already! i'd love to get rid of it, i hope it works for u and please let us know!!!
 
#50
The scarguard I was using helped one of my scars, but didn't do enough. I've heard that it is most effective when used on a fresh scar. The results look really good on the web, but didn't do it for me. My plastic surgeon said that if he revises my scars, I can apply that to have it heal better. At this point, I'm okay with my injections and using concealor to hide them. I'm gonna wait for some breakthrough technology in the future - I've done enough harm to them already!
 
#51
Hi girls, mine are now totally flat. I'm going to monitor them for about 6-8 months to make sure they don't grow back :)

I am trying to lighten them right now, I hope I do not have to resort to *yikes* laser.
 
#53
I've had a keloid scar onthe side of my knee for 20 years now!

A small keloid formed after chicken pox - how I wish I had left it alone - it was so small then! But I had an ignorant Doctor who tried to cauterize it (twice!) and left it much bigger than before (it went from being smaller than a nickel to 3 times that size). :wtf:

In my early 20s, I had a derm inject the scar every 3 months for 2 years. The scar did something really strange - the middle part became a normal colour, the whole scar flattened - but it also SPREAD out! :tdown:

Now I have 2 marks - each about the size of a thumbprint...the injections didn't really help much, and made it look even bigger....

I'm now trying the silicone gel sheets - that does help with the itching...have taken before pics, and will try use it for a while now.

I think I will look for the scargard, and try that on my c-section scar and my keloid as well. My scars don't really bother me - as a previous poster said - we notice it more than any one else would. But it would be nice to "fix" it if possible :D
 
Last edited:
#54
I agree!! This really does work! Sometimes you may need several shots to get that keloid scar down. If you keep at it - the scars will flatten out.

A good dermatologist will be able to treat your keloid scars!!


cupcakekiss said:
i had one keloid and i got 2 treatments of cortisone injections on it and it is now flat
depending on your case, cortisone shot treatment can occur for a longer period of time and the keloid will become flat and less enflamed/bothersome in time (6mos-1yr)

the shot was actually only a little bit of pain the first time and the second time i barely felt anything

definitely wear sunscreen! when the keloid is red or itchy, it is enflamed and can grow bigger, so you should get it treated right away if this happens

it worked for me! i'm happy with the result because i think i had a good doctor
Click to expand...
 
#55
you guys are all so brave getting shots on the keloids.... i'm 24 and i've had keloids all my life, big ones on both upper arms and big on on my chest/collar bone area. I got shots when I was in high school but it was so painful (especially the collar one) that i stopped. Plus my face ballooned, i think it was the steroids that did it....

then when i got into college i developed one on my jaw line, it's gotten really big... but i've been afraid of goign to the doctor to get shots b/c it'll be so painful. Do you all experience the pain when getting shots? Or is it just me? b/.c i remember telling my doctor how much pain i was in and she just thought i was a cry baby.... i think everyone who has keloids experience pain & intense itchiness on a daily basis and still function. So I think I have a pretty high threshold for pain.

anyways, has anyone tried other methods without shots and still got good results? I've tried the silicone sheets and scar guard but doesn't work.... =(
 
#56
I had a bad motercycle accident and its been a few years now, and I had bad road rash on my shoulder and hip. after the injuries healed I started to us Elastoplast scar reducers and they worked great for me!! My Keloid scars are almost compleatly flat and the colour has faded so much!

 
#57
I've had keloids my entire life from surgical scars. Some places the scars are pencil thin, other places they've keloided out. I now have a 16 or so inch scar across my low back from surgery last October, had it revised at the end of March as it was nothing short of terrifying (probably also due to the complications I had, and the doctor went back in and put in a drain). I've had a scar at the same spot prior, and I had to have steriods injected into it as part of it was knotty, raised and red--but it was a beautiful scar. Too bad I had to have another procedure and have it ripped out!

Anyhow. The guy I'm seeing now is a burn specialist, former Johns Hopkins doctor. We're going to go pulse dye laser on it--its a newer type of laser that will flatten this thing out, take away the red, and make it stop itching! The pain from touching parts of it and the itching drives me insane. I'll take before and after pictures and post when I start having it done sometime in the next month.
 
#58
I have tried every single thing that mentioned here, but none of it work permanently. I have 2 keloids at both upper arms, one is 25 years old (1985) and the 2nd one 15 years old (1994) from chicken pox. Back in 1987 the doctor (the 1st dermatologist) told me that there's nothing I can do to treat keloid (the 1st one in 1985). So I did nothing.
Much later in year 2000, for the first time I tried the silicone sheets, mederma, it showed very little improvement so after a few months I stopped using it. In 2001 I went to see a different doctor (2nd dermatologist), he injected me with cortisone after a couple of months the scars flatten a little bit but not so much then after a few months later it raised again, it can get very itchy due to the thickness of the scar.
After a few years in 2007, I went to another doctor (3rd dermatologist), he suggested the 6 times injections (but higher doses) every 4 to 6 weeks and also laser to lighten the scars, about 8 months later the improvements are very slow, and by that time the 2nd keloid is almost twice bigger, it flatten a little bit, not much, some how the laser burn makes the skin heals into keloid again. Now 2009 back to the square one, both of my keloids still the same, it raise, dark and itchy. I still do not know what is the best solution out there. After 25 years, we still do not have an effective solution to treat this keloid. It always that it shows a little improvement in the beginning and then it gets stagnant and back to the same thing again. I will not try the laser thing again, you should not injured the scar, because it will heal the same way with keloid.
 
#59
Hi, I am pretty experienced with keloids- I had huge keloids on the front and back of my earlobe from an ear piercing. My old dermatologist tried injecting my keloids with steroids- big mistake. My keloids only grew massively due to the trauma from the needle itself. The keloids grew to be very large, painful, and embarrassing. I tried many topical creams and nothing reduced the size or redness, and eventually found a plastic surgeon who agreed to cut out my keloid. Following the surgery, I underwent three rounds of radiation treatment, since keloids grow like benign tumors. They never stop growing! After the surgery and radiation, which was almost 4 years ago, there has been no signs of my keloids growing back. It is worth considering if all else fails. HTH! Good luck!!
 
#60
nycgirl24 said:
Hi, I am pretty experienced with keloids- I had huge keloids on the front and back of my earlobe from an ear piercing. My old dermatologist tried injecting my keloids with steroids- big mistake. My keloids only grew massively due to the trauma from the needle itself. The keloids grew to be very large, painful, and embarrassing. I tried many topical creams and nothing reduced the size or redness, and eventually found a plastic surgeon who agreed to cut out my keloid. Following the surgery, I underwent three rounds of radiation treatment, since keloids grow like benign tumors. They never stop growing! After the surgery and radiation, which was almost 4 years ago, there has been no signs of my keloids growing back. It is worth considering if all else fails. HTH! Good luck!!
Click to expand...

Wow, that's pretty major, a surgery and radiation. I don't think I want to go through that risk, since problems is purely vanity, I'm only wearing dress or top with sleeves, nothing sleeveless. Anyway thanks for the new input.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top