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About Us |
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Patient Education |
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Photo Gallery |
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The ASPS
Patient Photo Gallery currently includes
before and
after surgery pictures. |
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Keloid |
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Keloids are overgrown scars formed out of surgical incisions,
lacerations and burns. Keloids can also form due to inflammation
caused by wearing ear piercing, tattoos, pimples, ingrown hairs or
even minor mechanical trauma like the rubbing of skin or bumping
into an object. For reasons not known, people with dark skin tend to
be more prone to keloids and in some cases it is an inherited
tendency. And in many cases it re-occurs after treatment. Out of
many treatment options available to erase keloids treating them with
carbon dioxide laser is effective. |
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What is a keloid? |
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Keloids can be considered to be "scars that don't know when to
stop." A keloid, sometimes referred to as a keloid scar, is a tough
heaped-up scar that rises quite abruptly above the rest of the skin.
It is irregularly shaped and tends to enlarge progressively. Unlike
scars, keloids do not subside over time. |
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What is the difference between a
keloid and a hypertrophy scar? |
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After the skin is injured, the healing process usually leaves a flat
scar. Sometimes the scar is hypertrophy, or thickened, but confined
to the margin of the wound. Hypertrophy scars often subside by
themselves (a process which can take one year or more). Treatment
such as injections of cortisone (steroids) can speed this process.
Keloids, by contrast, may start some time after the injury and
extend beyond the wound site. This tendency to migrate into
surrounding areas that weren't injured to begin with distinguishes
keloids from hypertrophy scars. Keloids typically appear following
surgery or injury, but they can also appear spontaneously or as a
result of some slight inflammation, such as an acne pimple on the
chest (even one that wasn't scratched). Other minor injuries that
can trigger keloids are burns and piercing. |
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What are the signs and symptoms of
keloids? |
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Keloids are raised and look shiny and dome-shaped, ranging in color
from pink to red. Some keloids become quite large and unsightly.
Aside from causing potential cosmetic problems, these exuberant
scars tend to be itchy, tender, or even painful to the touch. |
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What is the cause of keloids? |
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Doctors do not understand exactly why keloids form in certain people
or situations and not in others. Changes in the cellular signals
that control growth and proliferation may be related to the process
of keloid formation, but these changes have not yet been
characterized scientifically. |
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Which people are most susceptible to
keloids? |
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Keloids are less common in children and the elderly. Although people
with darker skin are more likely to develop them, keloids can occur
in men and women of all skin types. In some cases, the tendency to
form keloids seems to run in families. |
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In which area of the body are keloids
most likely to appear? |
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Keloids develop most often on the chest, back, shoulders, and
earlobes. They rarely develop on the face (with the exception of the
jaw line). |
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Keloids and piercing |
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Keloids can develop following the minor injuries that occur with
body piercing. Since doctors do not understand the precise reasons
why some people are more prone to develop keloids, it is impossible
to predict whether piercing will lead to keloid formation. Although
there are some families which seem prone to form keloids, for the
most part, it's impossible to tell who will develop a keloid. One
person might, for instance, develop a keloid in one earlobe after
piercing and not in the other. It makes sense, however, for someone
who has formed one keloid to avoid any elective surgery or piercing,
especially in body areas prone to scarring. |
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New Page 1
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About Surgery |
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Areas of
surgery |
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Planning your surgery |
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