What Are Keloids?
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Keloids are hyperplastic scars that occur after trauma to the skin and result in a mass of tissue with an irregular surface, typically wrinkled and raised. Silicone gel appears to be effective when used on keloids as a primary treatment.
What Causes Keloids?
Many people suffer from keloidal scarring, but the most common cause is acne which may resolve on its own or require surgical intervention. Keloids can form where collagenous tissues are located—the mucosa, conjunctiva, or overlying skin layers at chronic inflammation or ulceration site.
Treatment Of Keloid scars
The most successful treatment of keloid scars is the use of silicone gel. Silicon gel is composed of amino acids and has a high elasticity. It is used to treat various types of scars and wound healing.
Silicon gel can absorb up to 100 times its weight and can be used on all types of scars, including keloids. It relieves pain, provides moist healing, and prolongs the time required for scars to form. It could be used as a complementary treatment with other options for keloids.
Can Silicon Gel Be Used To Treat Keloids?
Yes! Silicon gel is a popular treatment method for keloids, especially when combined with steroid injections to reduce inflammation. Other treatments include surgical excision, laser surgery, and surgical reconstruction.
Here are 10 factors that make silicon gel a good option for the treatment of keloids:
1. Makes The Stratum Corneum More Hydrated
Silicon gel contains an amino acid called lysine, which promotes hydration of the stratum corneum, which is the outer layer of the skin. This process causes new collagen to form in the skin. Silicone gel also encourages new collagen to form in other areas of damaged skin due to chronic trauma, thereby speeding up healing time.
2. Improves Collagen Formation
Silicone is used as a treatment for keloids because it induces new collagen formation in damaged tissue—the same process that occurs naturally when a wound is healed or scab forms on a cut or abrasion. This results in softer and smoother-looking skin tissues and makes them less prone to deep scarring.
3. Prevents Bacterial Infiltration Of The Damaged Tissue
Silicone gel contains dimethylsiloxane, a strong bactericidal agent that keeps the damaged skin tissues from being contaminated with harmful bacteria that cause keloids.
4. Suppresses The Formation Of Collagen-Induced Fibrosis
Collagen-induced fibrosis is a process of scar tissue formation that occurs when excessive collagen is deposited in tissues, causing inflammation and tissue degeneration. This often causes the end of the damaged skin tissues to change from normal skin to raised and wrinkled scars, known as keloids. This causes people to seek treatment for their keloids with silicone gel.
5. Lessens The Irritation Brought On By Scars
Silicone gel improves the appearance of keloids by smoothing out the scar tissue and decreasing the amount of friction that occurs when it rubs against the skin. Silicone gel also prevents keloids from scratching or rubbing against other objects, which would cause further irritation.
6. Improves The Appearance Of The Damaged Skin Tissue
Silicone gel improves the appearance of damaged skin tissues by smoothing out the roughness and wrinkles. This is especially important for people who have suffered from keloids for a long time, as this improvement will make their scars more aesthetically acceptable.
7. Can Be Used In Combination With Other Treatments
Another important benefit of silicone gel is combining it with other treatment methods for keloids, including steroid injections, surgical excision, and laser surgery. This results in a faster healing time and lesser occurrence of keloid recurrence.
8. Improves Blood Circulation
Silicone gel improves blood circulation in the area where it is applied on keloids, including accelerating blood flow to the damaged skin tissues. This is good because it helps bring oxygen and nutrients to the damaged skin tissues and removes waste, thereby accelerating their healing process. This is a useful property for treating keloids because poor blood circulation often results in delayed healing times and increased occurrence of scar tissue formation.
9. Easy To Administer
Silicon gel is easily administered by clinicians and does not require patients to undergo painful treatments. This means that post-surgical patients who would otherwise find it difficult to withstand pain can use it to treat keloids.
10. Good For Sensitive Skin And Children
Silicone gel is a good treatment for keloids because it is suitable for sensitive skin and children. This property makes silicone gel different from surgical excision and steroid injections, which require patients to be put under anesthesia.
Silicone Gel Requirements
An adequate amount of silicon gel should be applied to the scarred area daily until the scar tissue disappears. A patient must apply twice daily for 20 to 30 minutes on different parts of the affected area. This should repeat for 90 days to achieve the required results.
It is also important that patients do not apply silicon gel directly to the skin if they have cuts or abrasions on them, as this may cause pain and irritate the wounds. Patients must remember that silicon gel cures only keloids in the top layer of damaged skin tissues. Still, it does not treat underlying causes such as trauma, infection, or genetics.
Conclusion
A patient should apply silicone gel sparingly to most damaged areas using a special applicator like a buffer or by applying it directly to the affected area. Since keloids are common in acne, people with recurrent acne might want to prevent scarring as well as possible by using a face cream containing anti-acne ingredients such as niacinamide or dehydroacetic acid.
Do not be discouraged if you are suffering from keloids. Now you know how silicone gel can help treat your keloids! You can get treatment for keloids from a clinician or buy silicone gel and use it on your keloids yourself.
