What Is a Keloid?

After skin is injured, the body makes collagen to close and strengthen the area. With a keloid, scar tissue keeps accumulating after the wound has healed. The result may be smooth or irregular, firm or rubbery, and itchy, painful, or sensitive. Colour can range from pink or red to darker or paler than surrounding skin. Keloids may follow piercings, surgery, burns, acne-related injury, or minor scratches, and they can appear long after the original event. They are different from ordinary scars because they extend into nearby uninjured skin.

A dermatologist usually diagnoses a keloid by examining its surface, firmness, borders, and history. Treatment is selected according to its position, size, symptoms, and previous behaviour. Possibilities include steroid injections into the scar, cryotherapy, laser treatment, pressure-based care, or surgical removal followed by measures intended to reduce regrowth. A scar should not be cut, punctured, or treated with harsh products at home. Protecting healed skin from friction and avoiding unnecessary trauma can help limit irritation.

Arrange an assessment if a scar grows beyond the wound, becomes increasingly itchy or painful, repeatedly breaks down, bleeds, or interferes with movement or clothing. Prompt review is appropriate for warmth, pus, spreading redness, fever, or sudden swelling, because those changes may indicate infection or another diagnosis. Any new or changing lump that has not been examined should be checked rather than assumed to be a keloid.

Ask how the scar differs from a hypertrophic scar, what may have triggered it, whether treatment is needed now, how recurrence will be watched, and which symptoms should lead you to return sooner.