Hello, friends!
I don't want to prolong this too much, so here's my story in a nutshell: I had a keloid and I successfully got rid of it from home! It's now been nearly a year, and it hasn't grown back either.
In
the summer of 2012, I got bitten by a mosquito on my right hand, and
sadly, the bite developed into a keloid.
For those who are unsure what a keloid is, it is a type of scar which grows into a lump of flesh due to a freak amount of collagen-production by the body when it is trying to heal the area.
Over time my keloid just got bigger,
especially if it got accidentally bumped or grazed. This is how it
looked in its better days:
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| My keloid in 2013, barely a cm wide |
In
this time-frame, I visited my doctors, who told me 'all' of my options
(they rarely will tell you the natural methods), amongst them being:
- Cortisone injections
- Surgery followed by steroid injections to prevent re-growth
- Radiation
Now,
since I incline to natural methods, and am wary of side-effects of
medicines (not to mention steroids and radiation!), I was quite unhappy
with my choices. I was booked in for surgery but backed out soon
afterwards. I wanted to try all the natural options before having to go to the unnatural ones.
I then left my keloid as it was for over a year, and, not
surprisingly - it grew considerably bigger! At the time I tied it, it had grown 5x the original size!
That was when I seriously started researching
natural ways of removing a keloid. I did come across many
success stories - but rarely did they have adequate information, nor
did they feel reputable enough for me to risk my keloid growing even
bigger!
So I decided that if I do get rid of it naturally one day, I
will record the whole process in pictures and explain every last detail
(including warnings!) for people, so they won't be left in the same
situation as me. I know the feeling of having a keloid grow on a
previously-ordinary limb, and then feeling not-so-ordinary anymore!
One
of the common methods I found was tying the keloid, and treating it
with an anti-bacterial product during the process. There were few details, and
little to no information on after-care. Nevertheless, I set out on the journey equipped with as much information as I could gather!
Warning: once you tie it, you can't back out and untie it again! If you do so and leave it, you will realise your keloid has become even bigger! Remember, abuse of keloids usually does make them bigger. Once you make the decision, stick to your guns and try to see the light at the end of the tunnel! :) It works, I promise you!
So continue reading if you:
Warning: once you tie it, you can't back out and untie it again! If you do so and leave it, you will realise your keloid has become even bigger! Remember, abuse of keloids usually does make them bigger. Once you make the decision, stick to your guns and try to see the light at the end of the tunnel! :) It works, I promise you!
So continue reading if you:
- Have a keloid you need to get rid of
- Want to explore natural, home-based methods
- Can't afford surgery/other treatments
- Are up for a little pain for long-term gain!
- Just want to learn something new
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and do not claim to be. Any information on this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and to consult their doctor with any of their medical concerns. This is merely a home remedy that worked for me.
Below I will outline all the steps I took in permanently removing my keloid. Please note, if you can't stand mildly-gory pictures, then please get someone else to read through this for you! If you were to faint, that would be quite embarrassing for me.. (and here I said I was trying to help people!)
Without further ado:
Step 1:
 |
| My keloid in step 1 of the process |
Tie the keloid - tightly enough that due to blood flow restriction, the keloid becomes pale in colour.
The tighter you tie it, the faster it will fall off - however, the more painful it will be too! So choose wisely, weighing your pain tolerance level into the equation.
Warning: when you tie it, you are not aiming to cut the skin, but to cut blood circulation. Make sure you don't tie it so tight that your skin is cut.
To give you an idea of what to tie your keloid with, you can use any of the following:
- String
- Floss
- Rubber bands
 |
| I used these small, 1.5cm-wide rubber bands |
However, I experimented with all the above - each of these comes in good use at different stages of the keloid falling off.
Tip: this is the part where you will feel the most pain, so brace yourself. Ranging from after an
hour, to a few hours, the pain will set in (depending on how tightly
you've tied the keloid). However, in terms of myself, I will rate this pain as
moderate. As the keloid starts to die, the pain continuously subsides, until you reach a point where there's no more pain.
Step 2:
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| At this stage my keloid begun to become soft |
As
the keloid begins to shrink due to lack of blood flow, continuously
replace the string/floss/rubber band, tightening it each time.
Please note that hygiene is your best friend in this stage. Ensure the keloid is kept clean and dry at all times.
 |
| Later my keloid also begun to visibly shrink |
Tip: whenever you take off the string/floss/rubber band, blood will begin to flow back into the keloid. See below:
 |
| Keloid will start to balloon each time you untie it |
Make
sure you tie it again as soon as possible, as the body is actually trying to desperately recover the piece of flesh - which, of course, we don't want to happen! (But it makes you think, our bodies are quite cool huh?)
I suppose I should take my own advice though, seeing as I started to take a keloid-selfie in between.. (only for you guys!)
Step 3:
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| The skin around the keloid starts to become black |
At one point after shrinking, the skin around the keloid will visibly begin to scab and cut off from the rest of your skin.
Your body will reject this dying mass of flesh and will help you in getting rid of it.
Tip: here is when you should use your antibacterial solution obsessively - I utilised Organic Tea Tree Oil the most. I highly recommend using
tea tree oil - and if it's organic, then you score double points! Tea
tree oil has many benefits, it being anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and
all-natural.
 |
| The tea tree oil I used on my keloid |
Tea tree oil also gives a double benefit here as it is also drying, which will in turn cause
your keloid to shrink more! Some people have even reported success in using tea tree oil alone in getting rid of their keloid (which didn't work with me).
Warning: Few people react badly to tea tree oil (especially if it's organic!), but please do a patch
test on some other area of skin if you have any suspicions.
 |
| Further blackness occurs around the keloid |
Tip 2: at some point in this stage, if you started off by using a
rubber band (as I did), it will not fit anymore around the keloid. You can see in the above picture how the rubber band is becoming loose. Here
is when I switched to floss and string, which will fit around smaller
areas.
Step 4:
The entire keloid soon becomes black
When your keloid has completely shrunken and become black, the only thing to do is to keep tying and to wait until it drops off.
 |
| Soon afterwards, it begins to lift off the skin |
This can be one of the more anxiety-causing stages, as it can actually take the longest. You will visibly be able to see a small strand of skin which is connecting the dead keloid to your body, and which you must keep tying.
 |
| It looks the worst here, but we're near the end! |
At one point, it was tied for so long, I did
(guiltily) start fiddling with it, and a little later, it just came off
into my hand!
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| Success! Keloid-free hand, after threee years! |
Warning: the scab that forms will most likely not be brown coloured, but more likely yellow. Every time you wash the area, you will notice that the scab becomes soft and you can wipe it away. Don't do this! Leave it as it is and the scab will harden again. The scab is a good thing! It means the area underneath is healing.
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| It had a more endearing appearance a week later |
If you reach this stage of the process, you may now celebrate. Cue balloons and confetti! ♥
Step 5:
This is the first step in regards to after-care - you must not neglect your wound!
At one point I noticed the newly-exposed skin was looking somewhat bulgy, so I was worried if it could be the skin re-forming a keloid. However, my anxiety was for naught, because the healing skin gradually flattened out, became one-level, and also one colour.
 |
| No keloid poking out! Cue tears of joy |
There are some
crucial steps you must take after your keloid finally drops off, them
being:
- Keeping it the cleanest it has ever been
- Ensuring nothing gets into the wound (i.e. dust, fibres etc)
- Continuously applying antiseptic/organic tea tree oil (which as well as stopping infection, may also help in stopping a new keloid forming)
- Continuously moisturise after it becomes a scab (elaborated on in next step)
Step 6:
 |
| My keloid scar after a few weeks |
After the keloid becomes a scab, and after that scab falls off, you will notice two things:
1. The skin where the keloid used to be is tender and sensitive, and will hurt somewhat if you press it
2. There is a visibly dark scar
2. There is a visibly dark scar
What
you do next will contribute to how well the wound heals and how dark
your scar is. Again, I recommend you to use only the highest quality
products, and would want you to steer away from any artificial ones,
which will not behave well with your newly-exposed and tender skin. You also don't want to trigger a keloid re-growth. Be very wary in terms of what you put on your keloid!
As for myself, I used two products the most in the upcoming weeks:
- Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- Vitamin E Oil
As
olive oil is extremely nourishing, it was my personal pick, and as
always - the more organic, the better!
 |
| This olive oil is my holy grail, no joke |
Vitamin E oil was a supplement to
the olive oil, as it improves elasticity and aids skin recovery as well
as scar reduction. It is mostly always extracted from olives, so I was
really using an olive-oil combo.
Another option for you may be Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil, which also has great nourishing benefits.
After using these continuously, my skin lost the tender feeling by 95%, and the visibility of my scar went down by 70%.
Tip: as I myself haven't had the time to pamper my scar other than daily moisturising, the scar is still quite visible as can be seen in the picture.
However, the sooner you treat the scar, the more likely it will fade. A common natural method for lightening scars is lemon juice. Let me know if you have achieved results with anything else!
Conclusion: from beginning to end, my keloid took just under 2 weeks to fall off.
As the keloid was on my hand, which is an area that is frequently washed and wiped and abused with products, the scar reduction time took longer than it would normally. It took about 2-3 months. And I'm still on the road to reducing it right now!
Please let me know in the comments below how long it takes you, and if any of this helped you in any way! :)
UPDATE: As of November 2020, more than 5 years after I did this, my keloid has still not grown back, and the scar from removing it is matches the rest of my skin colour and is barely visible. All the best with the rest of you too!
UPDATE: As of November 2020, more than 5 years after I did this, my keloid has still not grown back, and the scar from removing it is matches the rest of my skin colour and is barely visible. All the best with the rest of you too!
© Elixir in Nature 2020
