The chance of developing keloids by taking accutane?

[Hopeforbest237]

Hi, I have seen comments about the correlation of isotretinoin (accutane) and keloids.  I'm prone to develop keloids on the chest, shoulder and back.  Is there a chance to develop more keloids during and after the course of taking isotretinoin?

Please advise.

[darralipper]

Hi.  I'm sorry all of you are going through difficult times with keloids.  I am a keloid sufferer myself.  Around the age of 16 I developed 2 red bumps right in the center of my chest.  At the time it wasn't really an issue as I still wore open shirts.  As the years passed the keloids got much bigger and I developed more on my chest.  I went through years of painful injections as well as laser surgery.  Unfortunately,  the surgery has made them worse.  I'm 45 now and needless to say I haven't worn an open shirt in over 25 years.  I didn't wear a bathing suit for years until I started finding high cut suits.  Thank goodness for them.  These scars really effected my life in some ways.  Self confidence being one of them.

I took Accutane as a child.  Until recently I didn't know that that there was a correlation between the drug and keloids.  Keloids do not run in the family and the doctors have always called them spontaneous keloids.  It's been very frustrating not knowing why I had them.  I am now assuming it is because of the Accutane.  I am looking into legal action because I also suffer from depression which is a major side effect of the drug.

Please know that life goes on with keloids.  I am happily married with two beautiful children.

Please feel free to reach out to me.

[Cpatt]

I took Accutane as a teenager and developed a keloid after stopping. The keloid is linear on the center on my chest. When I was younger it really bothered me but now I wear low cut shirts and swimsuits with no hesitation. I find it humorous when I first meet people when wearing a low cut shirt. It's human nature to be curious and I always welcome questions by people. In May 2010 I went to the dermatologist for the first time. I finally realized it wasn't a pimple and it had gotten large (2") and I had 4 in a cluster all oriented in the same direction. I started to receive cortisone injections every month and did so until Jan 2013. The keloids are very, very sensitive and hurt with too much pressure. After about a year of the cortisone injections being almost unbearably painful I finally convinced my derm to give me numbing first. That helped so much with the pain! In Jan 2013 I stopped getting injections because I moved to grad school. I didn't get any treatment for many, many months and they became redder, more sensitive,  and started to grow. By this point I had 2 keloids since 2 had flattened and gone away. I started to get kenalog injections that were mixed with numbing in the syringe. After doing that for many months I started a pulsed dye laser treatment without the kenalog. It wasn't helping at all but also wasn't hurting. I had numbing with no epinephrine before the laser to help with the pain. I then mixed both the kenalog injections and laser (both once a month). I started to see a minimal difference on my larger one (but not much). After many discussions and my own personal research,  my derm and I decided excision was the next option. We focused on the smaller one <1" and debated to incision techniques. One is to completely excise it. The other is to leave a rim and cut out the center. It makes it smaller. After much debate I had him completely excise the smaller one yesterday (11/17/14). I have both internal and external stitches and a compression bandage on my chest. I can't lift more than 10 lbs for the next 2 weeks but I'm hoping it's worth it. We're going to have a 6 month monitoring period before we make a decision on the larger one. During the surgery after stitching, my derm injected the incision with very concentrated kenalog. I'm going to start using a silicon dressing in 2 weeks and a cream my derm recommended. Here's to hoping I made a good decision. I have my pros and cons list I made in deciding if and what type for the incision. It's been a long journey. The visual appearance doesn't affect me but the pain does do I'm hoping this works.

[mom990]

My son had the same thing happen to him. He developed a lot of keloids on his shoulders back and back of his neck. He hasn't went to the beach or swam in years because of them. He won't take off his shirt in front of anyone. He won't date. Its so sad because it has been years now. He has missed out on doing things with friends like going to a friends family beach house yearly, Even going in the hot springs when on a vacation. We never heard that some people who used accutane also developed keloids. He never had then before using accutane. He says now he wishes they never put him on it and he just dealt with having the acne he had back then. I feel bad for him. He lets it effect his life. He sees it as worse then others would see it but there is not convincing him of this. He tried the shots. They didn't do anything. Did the laser work for you?

Keep positive. Everyday there is new advancements in these lasers and treatment for keloids is right around the corner I really think.

I just wish the insurance companies would understand that the treatment is important to the quality of life of young people who were put on accutane and developed keloids as a side effect. I hear so little about this side effect mentioned. More needs to get out about this. Thank you for the info.  

[Ariel15]

I took accutane when I was 15 years old. It worked great and quickly cleared up my acne. Unfortunetly, I developed a keloid scar on my chest and a few on my shoulders from breakouts that did heal correctly. Keloids do not seem to run in my family, and I have always healed normally so I attribute my keloids to Accutane. Having these keloids have been a nightmare: The keloid on my chest, which is about an inch long and is raised/puffy and red in a very noticeable area, has especailly been upsetting to me because as a girl I have to even think about what styles of clothing I cannot wear and I live in Florida so this has been an issue as it is hot and I cannot be covered up and I have been self conscious for years especailly at the beach.

      My dermentologist told me that these ugly scars developed because of Accutane, and the silver lining is that I will not develop additional keloids because it has been over 6 years since I stopped Accutane and no keloids have emerged.
        I hope that someone benefits from my experience as I would not wish this on anyone...Accutane works wonders when clearing up acne but you have to accept the chance that you can develop keloids that can be hit to your self-esteem and happiness, and they are difficult to treat, and will never completely go away. I've gone through cortisone injections to help flatten them and will undergo laser treatments that will hopefully reduce the redness (that are about $250 per session, you may need 3 sessions, and are not covered by insurance).
     If you decide to go on Accutane, remember to be VERY CAREFUL, and never touch/irritate your skin/blemishes.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Dermatologic side effects have been reported by using accutane and keloid formation and pyoderma gangrenosum have been reported. Isotretinoin inhibits collagenase, which may result in accumulation of collagen and the formation of hypertrophic scars and keloids.
A few patients have experienced keloid formation on the face when isotretinoin was administered in conjunction with dermabrasion. Keloid formation has reported to been occurred in patients who had been off isotretinoin for up to six months before dermabrasion was completed.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.