Saturday, April 24, 2010

I got my nose pierced a few months ago. Now keloids keep coming!?

The first time, it went away when I changed soaps. The second time, H2Ocean spray helped. Now it's back!! I think it's because of the heat/humidity, because I don't have air conditioning.





Is there anything I can do???

I got my nose pierced a few months ago. Now keloids keep coming!?
Some of the treatments that are currently available are described below. These treatments have varying degrees of effectiveness. Usually, any interference to a keloid can lead to it recurring and becoming bigger than it previously was.





* Surgery — Surgery requires great care during and after the operation. Keloids that return after being excised may be larger than the original. There is a 50% chance of recurrence after surgical removal. However, keloids are less likely to return if surgical removal is combined with other treatments. Surgical or laser excision may be followed by intralesional injections of a corticosteroid. Plastic closure of the skin including techniques such as v-plasty or w-plasty to reduce skin tension are known to reduce recurrence of keloids following excision.





* Dressings — Moistened wound coverings made of silicone gel (such as Dermatix) or silastic have been shown in studies to reduce keloid prominence over time. This treatment is safe and painless, although some patients may experience increased itchiness from wearing the dressing for an extended period of time.





* Steroid injections — 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. However, injections are often uncomfortable and in large and/or hard scars can be difficult to perform, requiring local anesthetic for people over 16, and full anesthetic for people under. The treatment area can become very painful as the anesthetic wears off.





* Compression — Compression bandages applied to the site over several months, sometimes for as long as six to twelve months, may lead to a reduction in the size of the keloid. This is the best treatment for preventing new scars.





* Cryosurgery — 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. It freezes the skin and causes sludging of the circulation beneath, effectively creating an area of localized frostbite. There is a slough of skin and keloid with re-epithelization.





* Radiation therapy — Electron beam radiation can be used at levels which do not penetrate the body deeply enough to affect internal organs. Orthovoltage radiation is more penetrating and slightly more effective. Radiation treatments reduce scar formation if they are used soon after a surgery while the surgical wound is healing. This is one of the more effective procedures(Ogawa R et al).





* Laser therapy — 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. The use of dye-tuned lasers has not shown better results than that of cold lasers.





* Newer treatments — Drugs that are used to treat autoimmune diseases or cancer have shown promise. These include alpha-interferon, 5-fluorouracil and bleomycin. However, there is a need for further study and evaluation of this treatment technique.





* Natural treatments (in case of piercings) - Take a warm rag and hold it up against the keloid for about 5 minutes. This can also be done with a warm tea bag. Tea tree oil is also effective but is not recommended as it can allow bacteria to stick to it.
Reply:Where is te gold stud?
Reply:Best advice, take it out. I had my ear cartilage pierced and i got a keyloid and it would not go away. So i took it out. A few years later did it again on the other ear and it happend again.
Reply:Well, the keloids can't be that big, right? Even if it is, this should peobably work:





Everytime you get out of the shower, when your skin is still moist, rub the scar, also use your H2Ocean stuff and whatever was helping before. This will massage the scar tissue so that it starts to wear down, but if it hurts, don't do it (duh) just go along with whatever was working before, just double it.