Hi,
Scars are areas of fibrous tissue that replace normal skin (or other tissue) after injury. A scar results from the biologic process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process.Scar tissue is not identical to the tissue which it replaces and is usually of inferior functional quality.
Two types of scars are the result of the body overproducing collagen, which causes the scar to be raised above the surrounding skin. Hypertrophic scars take the form of a red raised lump on the skin, but do not grow beyond the boundaries of the original wound, and they often improve in appearance after a few years. Keloid scars are a more serious form of scarring, because they can carry on growing indefinitely into a large, tumorous (although benign) growth.
A keloid is a firm to hard, irregularly shaped, thickened overgrowth with claw like projections. It may be asymptomatic or painful, tender and pruritic (itchy).
In the past, modalities like surgical excision and primary suturing, excision and skin grafting have been tried but almost always the keloid recurred.
Cryosurgery with liquid nitrogen followed by intralesional therapy with a combination of steroid & 5 flurouracil has been found to produce very good results. It arrests the growth of the keloid and flattens it.
ref:http://www.skinstreet.net/keloid.html
ref:http://www.answers.com/topic/scar?cat=health
I don't think they are keloid. Two of my scars are still thin flat white lines with suture marks on either side. Under the scars I have lumps growing which are painful to the touch. The ones on my face were flat but are now raised about 1/4 inch.