What Are Keloids? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, And ...

Keloids don’t need treatment, but treating them can help if they’re affecting your comfort or quality of life.

A dermatologist can help you find the treatment that suits you best, depending on where the keloid is, how large it is, and other factors.

You’ll likely need to try more than one treatment type, such as steroid injections and cryotherapy.

Here are some of the options:

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• Cryotherapy This involves freezing the keloid from the inside out. It works best on small keloids but may leave a light patch on darker skin.
• Steroid Injections These help shrink the keloid. You’ll need a series of injections, which work in 50 to 80 percent of cases. However, the keloid often returns after five years.
• Other Medications A dermatologist might recommend an injection of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a chemotherapy medication that may help reduce keloid size. It may be combined with the steroid kenalog.

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   Another option is topical imiquimod, an immune response modifier shown to be an effective treatment.

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• Surgery A surgical procedure that involves cutting out the keloid can remove it, but almost all keloids removed this way grow back. You’ll likely need to combine surgery with other treatments to manage the keloid.
• Pressure Therapy This noninvasive treatment involves wearing a device, a dressing, or clothing that reduces blood flow to the area of the keloid by applying pressure to it. It aims to stop the keloid reforming after surgery but can be difficult to use.
• Silicone Gels and Patches These also help flatten keloids when they are forming or after surgery.
• Laser Therapy Laser therapy can reduce the size and lighten the color of a keloid. Dermatologists often do this with another treatment.
• Ligature This process involves tying a surgical thread around the keloid, which cuts off the blood supply until the keloid falls off.
• Superficial Radiation Therapy Targeted, low-dose radiation may prevent keloids from regrowing after another treatment, like surgery. However, this option can harm your skin and may lead to cancer later in life.

Complementary Therapies

Various products may help treat or prevent keloids, but there’s not enough evidence yet to show that they’re safe and effective.

In one study published in 2018, some researchers found evidence that the plant Centella asiatica may help stop keloids from forming. In the study, 129 people with a high risk of keloids took either a supplement containing a Centella extract or no supplement after abdominal or knee surgery.

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In skin analysis tests, participants who took the supplement — two capsules of 22 milligrams daily from weeks 2 to 6 after surgery — had fewer signs of developing keloids than the group that did not take the supplement. There were no adverse effects.

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According to recent research, some other plant extracts may also have properties that could help treat keloids, including:

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• Allium cepa
• Aneilema keisak
• Astragalus membranaceus
• Camellia sinensis
• Galla chinensis
• Lycium chinense
• Physalis angulata
• Salvia miltiorrhiza

Experts also recognize the need for more options to help manage keloids and more research into natural therapies.