What should you know about flat keloid?

Keloid scars form when healing tissue produces more scar material than the original wound needs. A scar may feel hard, smooth, itchy, tender, or darker or lighter than nearby skin even when its surface looks relatively level. It can follow acne, piercing, surgery, an injection, or a minor injury. A new skin lump is not automatically a keloid, so a clinician may compare its position with the original injury and examine its borders.

Avoid picking, rubbing, or repeatedly piercing the area, and protect it from irritation and strong sun. Do not try to cut, freeze, or inject a scar at home. Treatment depends on its thickness, symptoms, location, and previous response. Options may include steroid injection into the skin, fractional laser treatment, pulsed dye laser treatment, cryotherapy, or carefully selected surgery. Surgery alone can allow a keloid to return, so a dermatologist may combine approaches and plan follow-up.

Book an assessment if a scar is enlarging, itchy, painful, bleeding, repeatedly irritated, or difficult to distinguish from another skin lump. Seek earlier review for a rapidly changing lesion, drainage, warmth, or spreading redness, because these features can signal infection or a different diagnosis.

Does this fit a keloid or another scar type? What is the chance of recurrence with each option? Would treatment need more than one session, and how will the scar be monitored?