Keloid

Keloid Definition :

        Keloid is a skin outgrowth, more or less branched and more or less elongated, sometimes forming a scar. Most keloids often occur after defective healing of a burn. In other words these defects of the skin, sometimes accompanied by ramifications match hypertrophy (an exaggeration of a scar after an injury occurring of the skin) . Most often this injury is the result of burning, more or less that profonde. Keloid recur more often (especially in subjects with black skin) after surgery, and other interventions requiring incision of the skin.

        These benign fibroblastic lesions are due to injuries, they are "volunteers" (surgery, thoracotomy, caesarean vaccine, piercing ...) or not (burns, severe acne ...) Another definition of keloid is a progressively enlarging scar, irregularly shaped, due to excessive formation of collagen in the dermis during connective tissue repair. The keloid is different from hypertrophic scars by the fact that it does not extend to neighboring tissues.

Why Keloid scars appear ?

        It is still unclear why these Keloidal hypertrophic scars occur. Among the known risk factors that favor their occurrence, we should mention :

1. The black population and Asians ... who are more often affected than whites.
2. Young age.... Very common in children, hypertrophic scars are rare in the elderly.
3. Some parts of the body region of the sternum, shoulders, neck, ear lobules (a simple lobule digging for earrings can lead to very large keloid scars), lower face.
4. When the skin comes into contact with a hot liquid, it is boiled facilitating keloid formation.
5. Skin lesions caused by a hot object are called contact burns. In these cases, the burn is usually confined to the part of the affected skin with the hot object. Such burning may be caused by a cigarette, an iron or an appliance.
6. Sunburn ... skin damage caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
7. Burns by electricity ... usually very deep and can cause serious damage to the skin and underlying tissues.
8. Contact with gases or flammable liquids ... cause chemical burns.