What type of tissue is affected by keloids?
What type of tissue is affected by keloids?
What are keloids? When skin is injured, fibrous tissue called scar tissue forms over the wound to repair and protect the injury. In some cases, extra scar tissue grows, forming smooth, hard growths called keloids. Keloids can be much larger than the original wound.
Will keloids spread?
Once you see a keloid, it tends to grow slowly. Most continue to spread for weeks or months. At times, a keloid can grow for years.
Can keloids form anywhere?
They are seen most commonly on the shoulders, upper back and chest, but they can occur anywhere. When a keloid is associated with a skin incision or injury, the keloid scar tissue continues to grow for a time after the original wound has closed, becoming larger and more visible until it reaches a final size.
What layers of the skin do keloids affect?
The reticular layer of the dermis consists mainly of collagen and fibroblasts, and injury to this layer is thought to contribute to formation of keloids.
Why do some people have keloids on their skin?
After your skin is injured, your cells try to repair it by forming a scar. In some people, the scar tissue keeps forming long after the wound heals. This extra scar tissue causes the raised area on your skin that is called a keloid.
What does keloid mean in terms of scar tissue?
Can a keloid scar be contagious or cancerous?
They’re not contagious or cancerous. Keloid scars can sometimes develop after minor skin damage, such as burns, acne scars and even chicken pox, but they can sometimes happen spontaneously with no history of skin trauma. If you have had a keloid scar before, you’re more likely to get another.
What should I avoid if I have keloids on my legs?
If you have known risk factors for developing keloids, you may want to avoid getting body piercings, unnecessary surgeries, and tattoos. Learn options for getting rid of keloids and other scars that are common on the legs. Keloids are sometimes confused with another more common type of scar called hypertrophic scars.
Where do Keloids form on the human body?
Keloids are raised overgrowths of scar tissue that occur at the site of a skin injury. They occur where trauma, surgery, blisters, vaccinations, acne or body piercing have injured the skin. Less commonly, keloids may form in places where the skin has not had a visible injury. Keloids differ from normal mature scars in composition and size.
What happens to keloids when they stop growing?
Once a keloid stops growing, it tends to be darker than the person’s skin. The border is usually darker than the center. Chest scars: A raised scar (A) rises above the skin; whereas, a keloid (B) rises above the skin and spreads. These scars appear from the head to the feet.
What kind of skin injury can cause keloids?
Many different types of skin injuries can lead to a keloid. These include: cuts. puncture wounds. surgical scars. severe acne. chicken pox.
Can a person be genetically predisposed to get keloids?
What’s more, some people may be genetically predisposed to getting keloids, considering that more than 50 percent of people who get keloids have family members who also have the scars, according to a 2011 report in the journal Molecular Medicine.