Keloids can be difficult to treat because simply excising it can lead to a larger keloid-it is an abnormal reaction of the healing process. Small keloids can be treated with the injection of
Kenalog, a type of steroid. This is too large to be amenable to injections alone.
A colleague of mine, Dr. James Norris of New York who trained at the university of Michigan has developed a protocol that I have used successfully in these cases for years.
We inject the base of the scar with Kenalog at weekly intervals staring 3 week before surgery. The keloid is then excised, and the patient is sent for external beam radiation immediately after to slow the activity of the fibroblasts, the cells that are overactive. We then follow-up with additional kenalog injections as needed 6 weeks after surgery. She is shown before and again, 5 months after surgery. She did not require additional Kenalog injections and her keloid has not regrown.
Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery Specialist
"I treat my patients like I would treat
- Jonathan D. Hall, MD, FACSmembers of my own family."
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