A little background about me: I'm in my early 30s now, and I've had keloids since I was 17 or so. My first one formed on my chest from a bad allergic reaction to a cheap necklace. I thought it was just a pimple, but it grew out of control. You'd be shocked to see what this tiny pimple grew into by the time I was in my late 20s. A huge tumor that took up half of my chest

My keloids: I've had keloids on my bikini line; some got removed. (I still have one more to remove.) I also had one on my chest that got removed, but it was so harrowingly large, there's no way I'd get my original skin back. I have a keloid near my armpit, and another near my shoulder. And finally, I have keloids along the side of my jawline.

Advice I've gotten from dermatologists/specialists/plastic surgeons. The advice I get from specialist to specialist varies wildly. I must have seen about 10 of them, including Dr. Tirgan who told me that he doesn't recommend surgical removal because they can grow back with a vengeance, so he suggested that I use cryotherapy. What he wasn't honest about, however, is that it's not the "removal process" that matters. It's PREVENTION that matters. Unfortunately, cryotherapy ended up making my keloids worse, which I'll highlight in the next section.

Others have told me that multi-modal methods prevention must be used to remove keloids, which I 100% agree with.

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What I've done to try to remove my keloids.

-Surgical removal of bikini line keloids (WITHOUT SRT RADIATION) - Unsuccessful (The keloids grew back with a vengeance)

- Cryoshape for bikini line keloids (Cryroshape involves sticking extremely cold liquid nitrogen needle into keloid) - Unssuccessful (Keloids regrew and EXTREMELY painful and gross process of decomposing skin/collagen. Think pus and blood for weeks!)

-Multiple sessions of kenalog injections (NO 5FU) on my jawline - Unsuccessful (It didn't do anything for my keloids and just caused them to be more inflamed)

-Multiple sessions of pulse-dye laser treatments on shoulder keloid - Unsuccessful (Seemed to irritate my keloid/burn it, but did nothing more)

Cryotherapy on jawline (using a Q-tip to superficially freeze the keloid skin) - Unsuccessful (Caused hyperpigmentation and inflammation)

-Surgical removal of bikini line keloids (WITH SRT RADIATION) - SUCCESSFUL. I've had this surgery in 2021 alongside one session of SRT radiation. My bikini line keloids haven't returned!

Surgical removal of large chest keloid (WITH SRT RADIATION) - hit or miss. This was an extremely large keloid, and I'd say 90% of the keloid is now flat, but I'm seeing 10% of the area wanting to regrow. (I'm putting Eclar plasters on them to keep them from regrowing!)

-Cordran Tape on jawline - SUCCESSFUL. Cordran Tape was the first time I saw any kind of success with my jawline keloids! However, the price for Cordran Tape has skyrocketed and my insurance refused to pay for it. Luckily, I found a BETTER, more potent alternative ... Eclar plasters!

-Eclar plasters on jawline - SUCCESSFUL. Progress is extremely slow with steroid tapes, but I recommend them for anyone with small keloids or as a method of prevention.

-Kenalog with 5FU injections - SUCCESSFUL. Kenalog by itself did absolutely nothing for me, but mixed with 5FU, I'm seeing my jawline keloids flatten

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Conclusion:

You can remove your keloid any way you wish. But the issue lies in PREVENTION. It's easy to cut off a keloid. The challenge is making sure it doesn't grow back. Many specialists will tell you, "Don't cut off the keloid because it will regrow back with a vengeance." This is true, but what they're not adding is "IF you don't use a preventative method," which is a MUST.

In my case, surgically cutting off my keloid WITH SRT radiation was the most successful method of keloid removal. The only downside is hyperpigmentation from the radiation. I'd also ask the surgeon to inject the wound site with kenalog injections (while you're still under anesthesia.). Next, once your surgeon says it's OK, use steroid tape (e.g., Cordran or Eclar Plasters) to prevent regrowth. And if there's any sign of a budding keloid, inject with kenalog 5FU ASAP!!!

If you have super small keloids, don't get them surgically removed. Just use Eclar Plasters or Cordran Tape (consistently for over a year) Kenalog and 5FU injections every month. And make sure you change out the steroid tape out every day (I tried to change them out every couple of days to save money, but failed to see any progress initially.)

I must've spent tens of thousands of dollars on keloid treatments, and if I could do it all again from the beginning, I'd just use the surgical removal SRT Radiation, followed by steroid tape kenalog/5FU (if any sign of regrowth) method.

(I still need to remove a keloid on my shoulder and a final one on my bikini line, but my fears of surgery and the fact that I need to take a week or two off while potentially starting a new job has been holding me back. I hope to work up the courage to remove them some time this year.)