What to Expect from Steroid Injection for Keloid Scars

A clinician examines the scar and cleans the skin before using a fine needle to place medicine within the keloid itself. You may feel a brief sting, pressure, or burning as the medicine enters a firm area. The aim is to calm excess scar activity rather than remove the scar immediately.

Keloids can be itchy, tender, or tight. Improvement is usually gradual, and more than one appointment may be considered depending on the scar’s thickness, position, and response. The treated area can be sore or slightly swollen for a short time.

Follow the clinic’s instructions about washing, dressing, and touching the injection site. Avoid rubbing or scratching the scar while it settles, and tell the clinician about medicines, allergies, skin infections, or previous reactions before treatment. Keep follow-up appointments so the scar’s texture, colour, and symptoms can be assessed.

Contact the treating clinic if redness, warmth, swelling, drainage, or pain is increasing rather than settling, or if the scar becomes unexpectedly fragile. Seek urgent care for trouble breathing, facial swelling, or widespread hives after an injection.

Ask which part of the keloid will be treated, how soreness will be managed, what changes to watch for, and whether another scar treatment may be paired with injections.