Keloids and hypertrophic scars: What you need to know

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Keloids and hypertrophic scars cause unsightly beauty, especially in young children, scars can also cause uncomfortable itching, pain and shrinkage on the skin, restricting children's movement. When you have keloids or hypertrophic scars, it is necessary to evaluate what stage the scar is in to give appropriate treatment.

1. What are keloids and hypertrophic scars?

Keloid: A keloid is a scar that forms after an injury about 6 months, and during the healing process the scar grows larger than the original wound, does not regress on its own due to overproduction and accumulation of collagen. Hypertrophic scars: Hypertrophic scars are scars that appear within 6 months of the injury and usually do not develop beyond the wound. Although it is also caused by collagen overgrowth, hypertrophic scars can self-regress over time. Causes of keloid and hypertrophic scars can be:
Severe and deep burns (from 2nd degree and above); Surgery, invasive skin procedures; Accident; Skin infection.

2. Treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars

Keloids and hypertrophic scars cause unsightly beauty, especially in young children, scars can also cause uncomfortable itching, pain and shrinkage on the skin, restricting children's movement.
When you have keloids or hypertrophic scars, it is necessary to evaluate what stage the scar is in to give appropriate treatment. It can be divided into 2 stages for evaluation, which is the stage of scarring that begins to form when the wound has just healed) and the stage of advanced scarring.
2.1 Early stages of keloids and hypertrophic scars Apply scar prevention cream; Bandage with silicone patch; Apply physical therapy to massage the scarred area and use a compression bandage. 2.2 Advanced stages of keloids and hypertrophic scars Usually, keloids and hypertrophic scars are treated when the scars are already in an advanced stage. Some methods used to treat scars at this stage include:
Corticosteroid injections: Corticosteroid injections have the effect of softening the scar tissue and flattening the scar surface, indicated in cases of keloid or hypertrophic scars. active causes itching, pain, and redness. Corticosteroid injection inhibits fibroblast proliferation and is often combined with cryosurgery or scar removal surgery. Despite the high success rate of treatment, corticosteroid injections can cause complications such as skin pigmentation reduction, skin atrophy. In addition to corticosteroids, it is possible to inject Interferon, Bleomycin.

Surgical excision: Scar removal surgery works to cut off the production of collagen that thickens the scar, thereby dilating the scar, indicated in cases of keloid scars or hypertrophic scars that shrink, restricting movement. motion. Especially, for cases where scars form for a long time (over 1 year) and cause cosmetic loss, when other methods are not effective, surgical excision is applied. However, it is necessary to pay attention to post-operative treatment in case of recurrent keloid scars by corticosteroid injection or laser. Laser: Treatment of keloid or hypertrophic scars with lasers includes either invasive or non-invasive lasers. Invasive laser is applied to inactive hypertrophic scars, which has the effect of ablation of scar tissue. This method can cause skin wear, discharge, scab, change skin pigmentation after treatment. Meanwhile, the non-invasive laser has the effect of necrosis of the blood vessels feeding the scar, thereby causing the scar to recede. Cryosurgery: Cryosurgery uses liquid nitrogen to freeze blood vessels, and lack of blood to nourish scar tissue, thereby causing cell death. This method works better for hypertrophic scars than keloids, but can cause side effects such as loss of skin pigmentation and pain.

3. Prevention of keloids and hypertrophic scars

Keloids and hypertrophic scars can be prevented from forming by measures such as:
When injured, care should be taken to take care of the wound so that it heals quickly, leaving no scars. When the wound begins to heal, it is also the time when the scar forms (usually about 2 - 8 weeks after the injury), massage to prevent scars, and apply scar compression under the guidance of a specialist. When scar formation causes itching, it is necessary to avoid scratching, scratching or irritating the skin with keloids, hypertrophic scars, and avoiding wearing clothes that are too tight to affect the scar. Limit some foods that cause allergies, itching and pay attention to supplementing with adequate nutrients to strengthen the body's resistance during wound treatment.

In summary, keloids and hypertrophic scars can be treated with one or a combination of methods such as injection, surgery, laser, etc., depending on the stage of the scar as well as its size and nature. of scars. To ensure safety, everyone should go to a reputable hospital to be examined by a doctor and have the most appropriate treatment method.

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