r/Keloids

I’ve been lurking on this subreddit for quite some time now since I developed my keloid. it started as a 2nd degree burn 8months ago that started turning into a keloid around 6 months ago. since then, it’s only been getting more raised and bigger! I wasn’t able to get steroid injections because I was in school (I’m a 18y/o girl with a huge, red scar on the dead middle of my chest so it’s taken a huge toll on my mental health) until yesterday. I talked to my pcp (getting at my normal clinic instead of a derm because of insuranc) and we talked a bit about how we’re going about it this summer.

my scar is about 2 inches long and .5-1 inch wide and around 1cm raised itches and hurts when I touch it. I got my first keloid shot done yesterday and honestly, the pain wasn’t too bad, which I was surprised with as my scar is pretty firm. I have more appointments scheduled every month until August, but was wondering if I should dabble in eclar plaster. i didn’t ask my pcp about it, but I doubt she knows much about it. i really want my scar to at least flatten before I go back to school, but I don’t want to further irritate my scar or anything. I’ve been using regular silicone tape that I bought on amazon that’s been making my scar a little softer, but it hasn’t really helped with the size or color. Would it be a good idea to buy and test out the eclar plaster? I already wear my silicone tape 20-22hrs a day and change it once a day, so it’d be about the same right? and where should I buy it? like what is a reputable place to purchase them? thank you!!!

Hey guys, roughly 5 months ago I made a post about my experiment to find out whether silicone tape works. Here's my 4 month update on how the progress has been going so far:

(Read my original post for the full backstory: https://www.reddit.com/r/Keloids/comments/1psxnho/keloid_storytime_ramblings_plus_1_week_of/ )

4 Month Update:

Side by side comparison of keloid scar after 4 months

Surprisingly, there's been quite a few changes after only 4 months of using silicone tape (silicone tape usually takes 4-5 years for any results to show, so I had nearly 0 expectations). The overall colour of the keloid has lightened & it has flattened (in my previous update I wasn't sure, but now I can visually see & feel these changes).

The keloid used to be a dark brown / very bright pink, but the colour has now lightened quite a bit. It's not skin toned, but the colour is lighter and much more muted than before.

The puffy-ness of the keloid has also gone down a lot. You might need to look at the side view pictures (below) to fully get what I mean, but when I rub my finger on it, the center part of the keloid feels a ton flatter now. Previously, the center part of the keloid used to be the highest part and it was raised like a lump? Now, when I touch the keloid at that spot it feels more flat. The keloid is definitely still raised & lumpy, but it feels less raised than it was 4 months ago.

The differences are noticeable too when you compare their side views

The texture of the keloid has also continued to change - previously there were a lot of creases / wrinkles on the surface of the keloid. But now these creases have nearly all disappeared completely.

Another interesting thing is the darkened area of skin caused by me scratching the skin beneath my keloid has also nearly completely faded away (see my original post for more context). That area stayed dark for nearly 2 years, but after making sure the silicone tape covered that spot too, it lightened really quickly and is now much fainter yay.

However, one other thing I noticed is the size of the keloid has increased slightly. If you look at the two pictures, you can see that the ends on the left & right side are now longer. The keloid has flattened quite a bit though, and I've heard that keloids normally get bigger when they get flatter because the volume needs to go somewhere. So it's possible that that might be what is happening here. Another thing to take note of is my keloid was constantly growing before my experiement as well (it was an active, growing keloid). So I will continue to monitor & document how the keloid continues to evolve from here.

As for itching / pain, I've not noticed any significant differences from before / after using silicone tape. The keloid scar continues to still be a little bit itchy occasionally, and sometimes if I move my leg in an unexpected position I still feel a very slight sting. Which is pretty much exactly how it was before (and luckily the pain & itching is mild & doesn't bother me at the current level). But basically I've not noticed any changes in this department.

Other Observations: Keloid skin is dry / flaky after tape

Another thing I noticed is the skin of my keloid started flaking off after constant use of silicone tape. I pretty much use the silicone tape for ~23 hours non-stop daily, and I take it off when I'm showering.

This means everyday I peel the silicone tape off the keloid - and I have a feeling that the constant peeling is lowkey also peeling off the surface of the keloid in the process? It doesn't hurt at all when I peel the tape off, but I often see small pieces of dry skin flaking off and getting peeled off when I do this.

In the picture below, you can also see there are some small areas of darker keloid skin. These patches are actually areas of dead skin that's in the process of peeling off. I noticed over the past few months that these spots would darken and then peel right off after a few weeks (and then reverting back to the lighter pale pink beneath).

There are some darker spots on the keloid that are actually dead skin (it eventually peels off & flakes off)

Which is kind of weird but at the same time I think it might actually help reduce the size of the keloid? Since I'm literally losing keloid mass due to the skin flaking right off.

Also, do note that this skin flaking doesn't hurt / itch at all - I don't feel anything when it happens. And in addition, I'm not doing anything to encourage / discourage the flaking - it's just something that happens due to me peeling the tape daily. I don't recommend anyone trying to force their keloid skin to peel by using force or harsh chemicals because I don't know what that would do (and likely the keloid would respond badly to that).

But yeah that's another interesting observation I noticed, and I don't think anyone else has mentioned this one yet!

Other Silicone Tape Care Tips:

Previously in my old update I said that the tape used to peel off when I sleep? That problem was fixed maybe 1 week after my old post. I figured out that I just need to round the corners with some scissors. Cutting the corners round really helps the tape stay on.

I also previously mentioned experimenting with waterproof tape to stick the corners down. I now need to say I completely DO NOT recommend anyone trying waterproof tape to stick the corners. This nearly ended in disaster for me (I accidentally hurt myself doing this) because the waterproof tape is insanely sticky and painful to remove (silicone tape is different, it's painless when you peel it). You don't need to use anything besides silicone tape - just make sure the corners are round.

The first box of silicone tape lasted 4 months for me, though I think it could have easily lasted 5 months+ or more because I wasted quite a few pieces on some experiments (and ended up replacing them after only 1 day of use).

I use each piece of tape for roughly 5-7 days. They get washed every other day with soap and water, then dried very carefully with a non fluffy towel.

But yep! That's my 4 month update for now. My keloid currently does not bother me very much and I don't mind if it stays there forever (that's why I'm willing to test out silicone tape on it like a guinea pig for the next 4-5 years).

I'll likely update if I see any new changes, but yeah I plan on testing it out for the full 4-5 years to really see if this does anything (so check in with me after that and I'll let you know if it actually works)

Like many of you Keloids have been apart of my life for a long time. One would appear than another would appear from a small irritation. I would go get them treated and I thought we were good to go. Then about 12 yrs ago I had female surgery and they made incisions on my stomach and those 5 small incisions became angry and keloids started to grow. I now have 8 scars on my stomach and I feel deformed. I got them treated with creams, silicone tape, steroid injections and then surgery and nothing worked.

When I saw this community I was excited because I thought I had found a place were I belonged and people could share in the pain and shame of scarred skin. I would log on from time and read many posts and one day I would post.

About 6 weeks ago, I decided I had enough of hiding and shame and feeling sorry for myself and said I want to do something about it. Enough is enough. I talked to just a few of my friends and I found out they have scars too (hypertrophic, surgical and keloid.) I said to myself, I have to do something to help us.

I started with an idea and then I began to reaching out to some people who can help me develop treatments that help so many people like us. I am willing to leave the US and relocate to another country to find a solutions to this problem.

I developed a survey and thought today will be the day that I muster up enough courage to ask people about their journey by taking a 2 minute survey and I was accused of using AI. Yes, I used it to help with a survey and some wording but this is my story and no one can take that away from me. I have lived with the pain and suffering and gone through emotion ups and downs going through the treatments that did not work.

Since you have gotten to the end of this post, please help gather more information on your journey. Comment below if you are interested in helping.

Hey all. So I just got out of a plastics appointment. This was after being referred by dermatology after a few rounds of steroid injections showed no results. I'm really frustrated and angry because the doctor basically said that she does not want to commit to excision + radiotherapy because, in her words, "there's not enough prospective data". I know I'm not a doctor or medical researcher so my interpretation of data is not on par with a doctor's but I was really confused because I thought in terms of recurrence rates excision + radiotherapy was the best thing out there. She insisted that even her senior consultant is not confident in the treatment. She was a bit dismissive and seemed to want to get me out quickly so I didn't argue. I don't know I'm just at a loss bc I don't know where to go from here. Has anyone gone the excision+radiotherapy route? Is there anything else that could work?

A painful internal scar developed in the fascia tissue under the skin at the site of my belly button incision, and a hypertrophic scar and keloid also developed on the skin's surface. Because of the unbearable pain, I underwent scar tissue revision surgery 2 weeks ago.

The pain is still present, the wound has scabbed over, and because the internal fascia sutures are dissolvable and could negatively affect wound healing, my surgeon advised against subcutaneous steroid injections for 3 months.

I want to prevent the formation of hard, irregular, and painful internal scar tissue in the subcutaneous fascia, similar to the previous surgical incision. I can't do scar massages because there is still swollen/edema and pain, and it also hurts when I walk or sit a lot; I try to walk as much as I can. Besides this, what should I do? I'm afraid that if hard internal scar tissue develops again, it will pull on all the tissues in that area and cause pain again. Need help. Thanks.

Hey ! I wanted to contribute to this sub by providing my experience with keloid removal in France.

For context, I had a keloid on my ear lobe from a homemade piercing. I never had issues with this piercing until one day i put cheap earrings that irritated me, it got worse and it turned into a keloid in late 2022.

My keloid grew really slow at first, then got bigger and started protruding from my ear, and got the size of a marble by 2024.

I started looking into surgical options in early 2025 but as a student I was scared that it would be too expensive. I did my research and I went to a clinic in Paris that practiced ear keloid removal for 400€. I thought it wasn’t too bad so I booked an appointment for april 2025.

The doctor explained everything : I would have one appointment to get the keloid removal, and another one a few weeks later for an injection of kenacort. depending on the healing i would just need 1 our 2 shots, depends.

And good news ! The keloid removal was totally reimbursed by social security ! (I love France). The kenacort was also partly reimbursed (was like 80€, paid like 26€).

The appointement for the removal happened in june 2025 : The intervention lasted like 20 min total, local anesthesia. didn’t hurt at all but felt weird cause i could literally hear him cutting part of my ear and stitching me. I could feel it but not feel it yk ? he showed me the keloid after.

I had to keep the stitches for two weeks. Healing wasn’t really painful but i had a huge bandaid on my ear for 2 weeks so that wasn’t really sexy.

I got the stitches removed by a nurse and then I was supposed to apply a cream to help with healing and scaring, but i’ll admit i didn’t do that. thank god i didn’t get a visible scar. The nurse even said that it was the best stitching he’s ever seen and the surgeon did a really good job bc there’s basically no scar.

A few weeks after I saw the surgeon for an injection of kenacort. The injection kinda hurt but no big deal. He said I healed well and only needed one shot.

It’s been almost one year since i’ve got the removal and there’s no sign of keloid growing back, thank god. Only side effects is that kenacort partly depigmented my lobe (i’m black, and part of my lobe is now pinkish/white, like albino colored). hopefully the color comes back in some time, otherwise oh well.

Overall it was a pleasant experience and i’m satisfied with it and relieved ! if anyone is interested in the clinic’s contact and surgeon contact, i’d be happy to give you ! just dm me.