keloids

Recently, I have gauged my ears.  I went too quickly from a smaller to a bigger size, and now I have these really ugly keloids on my ears where I guaged them.  I am hoping there is something that I can do at home to reduce their size or get rid of them.  They are somewhat painful but not if I am leaving them alone.  I want to gauge my ears again and I think if I make the holes bigger, the keloids will stretch out and not appear visible.  Do you have any suggestions for me?

[Dr_Aparna]

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.
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.
Keloid scars can also develop from body piercings. In some people, keloid scars form spontaneously.Keloids expand in claw like growths over normal skin. They have the capability to hurt with a needle-like pain or to itch without warning, although the degree of sensation varies from patient to patient.
There is no treatment for keloids that is considered to be 100% effective.All the invasive methods of treatment like surgery carry a serious risk of the keloid recurring and becoming bigger than it previously was.
Steroid injections are best used as the scar begins to thicken or if the person is a known keloid former. A series of injections with triamcinolone acetonide or another corticosteroid may reduce keloid size and irritation. Cryosurgery is an excellent treatment for keloids which are small and occur on lightly pigmented skin. It is often combined with monthly cortisone injections. The use of cryotherapy is limited since it causes skin blanching.
This is an alternative to conventional surgery for keloid removal. Lasers produce a superficial peel but often do not reduce the bulk of the keloid.
ref:http://www.answers.com/topic/keloid?cat=health
I recommend that you do not in any way try anything on your ear since the chances of it turning into a keloid is there.
Please do visit a dermatologist and explore the best options for you to get rid of the existing ones.

[xxLiaxx]

I have a keloid scar on my  right shoulder
I have not done anything to it
what would you advice me to do to it???
What do yo think the best solution is?

[Jocilyn]

Hello, I am a proffesional body piercer, I see this sort of thing ALL the time, it is NOT necesary to have these keloids surgically removed, there are things you can do to make them go away, but they take alot more time than removal. first of all, i would like to warn you that stretching is a LONG process and if ruched can have HORIFYING results, so take your time, go up ONLY one size at a time and never go up more than once every two weeks. ok, first step is to put in a smaller guage so that there is less tension on the skin of the keloid, tension will make it bigger, second of all, people who get keloids are prone to them, so if you get another piercing, (especially one that goes through cartilage) you are very likly to develop another keloid. secondly you should invest in tea tree oil, dilute it a LLITTLE bit in very warm water and crush aprin in it until it forms a paste, take your guages out and rub the keloids with this mixture several times a day, this process may take as little as a week, or up to 6 months to work completly. most likely you will still have a mark where your keloids were but if you continue to stretch your lobes after the keloids heal completly you may not be able to notice,

i hope this has been helpful if you have any wuestions or if theres anything else i can help you with let me know, good luck!

OH! PS- make sure to keep it clean, treat it as a new piercing, clean it twice a day with antibacterial soap so that it doesnt get infected, if you developed keloids you most likely tore the skin and it is open to infection, also when your stretching, clean your plugs reguarly or they can get NASTY and result in DISGUSTING and ear mutilating infections, *best wishes* haha

[nikki508]

my boyfriend has a big keloid on the back of his neck and he had steroid shots which made it go away alitle  but once he stopped it came back again.His came because when he got his hair cut at barber when younger he cut the back of his head and it came after that i hope yours goes away