Keloids are scar tissues that often begin where there has been a skin injury but significantly outgrow the initial incision due to excessive growth. Keloids tend to spread across the region of the skin damage and may become permanent, even if some swelling and elevation of a scar is normal. Make an appointment at 1Aesthetics, a luxurious boutique medical aesthetics clinic located in Singapore's Riverside residential area.
Who is at risk?
Keloids can occur in both sexes. However, they are less common among children and the elderly. Keloids can, in extremely rare cases, run in families.
What Causes the Development of Keloids?
Although the precise cause of keloids is unknown, most of them appear to arise in areas where the skin's structural protein, collagen, is produced in excess. While skin injury seems to be the most common cause of keloid formation, these scars can nevertheless sometimes grow for no apparent reason.
Skin tension seems to be a major factor in keloid development since it usually appears on the back and upper arm, areas where keloid growth develops. However, you may assume that other body parts, such as your hands and feet, would likewise be especially exposed if that were the case.
Contributing factors include repetitive injury to the same area of skin, skin tension, and an infection at the site of the lesion. Keloids are influenced by hereditary factors as well. If someone in your family already has keloids, you are more likely to get them yourself.
Diagnosis
Tests are not required to identify keloids. A skilled dermatologist can identify a keloid based on the growth's appearance and any prior skin damage from acne, body piercings, or surgery.
Singapore's Keloid Scar Treatment Options
Keloids can be treated in a variety of ways, but none of them are totally successful.
To get the best outcomes, your doctor might mix two or more types of treatment. The sooner you begin treatment if you have keloids, the better.
Steroids were given out
Topical steroids and local steroid injections are the two main variants of this treatment method. A dermatologist will deliver steroid injections by injecting a corticosteroid solution directly into the keloid.
This keloid treatment singapore main goal is to aid in slowing the keloid's growth and reducing its size. The connections between the dense collagen fibers are broken down by steroids, which helps to lessen the amount of scar tissue under your skin.
Strong anti-inflammatory characteristics of these steroids aid in reducing redness, swelling, and itching. In the practice of a dermatologist, steroids are injected.
CO2 Laser Treatment
A doctor may recommend CO2 laser therapy to lessen the color and redness of adult keloids. Additionally, this method of treatment lessens the visibility of stretch marks and evens out the uneven skin tone brought on by keloids.
Laser-assisted pulsed dye treatment
This technique works well for reducing scar redness and discoloration. A laser beam with a very high degree of focus is directed at the scarred areas during pulsed dye laser therapy.
A topical anesthetic cream can be used to lessen the discomfort experienced by some patients during laser therapy, notwithstanding the possibility of pain. Depending on the severity of your disease, your dermatologist will advise you on the number of sessions you should attend.
Combination strategies
Combining multiple different treatment methods is one of the best strategies to treat keloids. On rare occasions, combining pulsed dye laser therapy with steroid injections is advised.
While the pulsed dye laser therapy may limit blood supply to the area, steroid injections will minimize scar formation and irritation.
Is Keloids Surgical Treatment Recommended?
Although some individuals think that surgical removal of keloids is best, there are more drawbacks to this approach than advantages. Up to 60% of cases of recurrence may occur, and post-operative scarring may deteriorate. Combining many non-surgical therapy modalities produces better outcomes and is a safer method.