KELOIDS ARE SCARS
Report #7273
Whenever you cut yourself, you are at risk for forming thick scars called keloids.
Your susceptibility to getting a thick scar depends on your own genetic make up and how deep the original cut separated the skin. Logically, you would think that the simplest way to remove a keloid is to cut it out, but almost always they tend to recur, sometimes much larger than the original scar that was removed. Radiation, laser, and Retin-A cream are used after surgery to remove the keloid, but they do not prevent the scars from recurring. Doctors can sometimes treat keloids by injecting a cortisone-type drug called triamcinolone, directly into the keloid, but it often leaves a white spot or dissolves the fat underneath the skin leaving a temporary indentation in the skin. A recent paper in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that injections of interferon at the time of surgery helps to prevent recurrences of keloids, while injections of cortisones do not. So, cortisone-type injections can be used to get rid of keloids when they are used without surgery, but they have significant side effects. Interferon injections at the time of surgery help to prevent keloids from recurring.
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News
Checked 8/9/05