Keloids are relatively uncommon overall, affecting about 10% of people, but are significantly more frequent in darker-skinned individuals (African, Asian, Hispanic descent) and those under 30, with rates as high as 15-20% in certain groups, often linked to genetic predisposition and factors like ear piercings or skin trauma. They form as an overgrowth of scar tissue after skin injury, occurring most often on the chest, shoulders, earlobes, and face.
An estimated ten percent of all people experience some degree of keloid scarring. While keloids have the potential to develop in nearly anyone, some groups of people are at an increased risk of developing these skin features. Gender does not play any role in a person's likelihood of developing keloid scars.
They can affect anyone, but they are more common in some groups (e.g. people of African, Asian, or Hispanic descent). Only a minority of people develop keloids.
Although anyone can get them, keloids are more common among darker-skinned people. Keloids can be painful or itchy but aren't usually dangerous to a person's health. However, depending on where they are located, they can be a cosmetic concern. Fortunately, there are many treatment options to help remove keloids.
How are keloids in children treated? There is no satisfactory treatment for keloids. If you have a keloid, seek the advice of your plastic surgeon. Surgical excision must be performed with great care as it may result in a second keloid even larger than the original one.
Over months or years, scars can grow from the size of a pencil top eraser to a grapefruit or larger. Patients tend to first notice symptoms between ages 10 and 30, with the 20s as the prime age to develop keloids. The condition can range from mildly annoying to socially limiting.
If the surgeon feels excision (surgical removal) is an option for your child's keloid scar, they will discuss this with you. This is usually carried out as a day case procedure and is under general anaesthetic (your child will be asleep).
It is known that keloids do not transform into cancer or any other disease. However, if left untreated, they do not regress or disappear. Keloids can be mistaken for skin cancers. To rule this out, a tissue sample may need to be taken, followed by a pathological examination.
It forms months to a year after the injury that caused it. The scar grows larger than the initial wound. Keloids don't fade over time. A dermatologist may offer treatments like corticosteroid injections or pressure garments to reduce its size and appearance.
Accordingly, low serum and tissue 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and deficient tissue vitamin D receptors contribute to the pathogenesis of keloids. This can be partly mediated by dysregulation of the antimicrobial peptide; koebnerisin.
Keloids are most common in people younger than 30. Black people, Asians, and Hispanics are more prone to developing keloids.
Generally, they contain relatively acellular centers and thick, abundant collagen bundles that form nodules in the deep dermal portion of the lesion. Keloids present a therapeutic challenge that must be addressed, as these lesions can cause significant pain, pruritus (itching), and physical disfigurement.
Keloids can vary in size from very small (less than 1 centimeter) to large (larger than 5 centimeters). They can be disfiguring and cause psychological distress. Keloids are different from hypertrophic scars, which are also raised and thickened but do not grow beyond the margins of the original injury.
Keloids are most common in individuals of African ancestry but are also found in Asians and less frequently in Caucasians. Although there are no reliable numbers available, we estimate that approximately 1% of individuals of West African origin have keloids. Young children and older adults rarely get keloids.
Use a silicone gel bandage. Keep even pressure on the area. Use the bandage on the skin for 12 to 24 hours a day for 2 to 3 months. This may prevent keloid growth.
Keloid scars are usually raised, hard, smooth and shiny. They can be skin colour, pink, red, purple, brown, or darker than the skin around them. You can get keloid scars on any part of the body, but they're most common on the chest, shoulders, chin, neck, lower legs and ears.
If you're prone to developing keloids, you might get them in more than one place. A keloid scar isn't harmful to your physical health, but it can cause emotional distress. Prevention or early treatment is key.
Symptoms
Conclusion: Keloids never completely disappear to leave skin with normal texture, however they can resolve (flatten and soften) so they no longer burden patients in approximately one third of cases. Scars resolving spontaneously do so early in the disease. Those that don't may resolve after many years of treatment.
Keloids may continue to grow slowly for weeks, months or years. They eventually stop growing but do not disappear on their own. Once a keloid develops, it is permanent unless removed or treated successfully.
In fact, they once misdiagnosed a 9-year-old's malignant tumor as a keloid! A skin condition called cutaneous scleroderma can also resemble keloids or hypertrophic scars. This condition is characterized by thickened skin and darkened keloid-like lesions.
To support keloid therapy, it is advisable to limit or avoid pro-inflammatory foods such as processed meats, sugary snacks, refined grains and alcohol in excess. These foods can contribute to systemic inflammation and may impede the healing process.
There are no proven methods of removing keloid scars naturally. Some clinical studies have shown that onion extract used orally or on the skin might possibly be effective in improving the appearance of keloid scars and reducing itchiness and discomfort.
What can I expect in terms of keloid removal cost? The total cost varies, depending on the size of the keloid, the location of the scar, the area of the clinic, the doctor and the method used. The average cost of keloid removal anywhere from $350 to $2,500.
It may be very tempting to squeeze an ear keloid. However, you can't pop an ear keloid. Ear keloids are a type of scar tissue, so there isn't any pus to squeeze out, like a pimple. Trying to pop a keloid on your ear can damage your skin and introduce bacteria, which can cause an infection.