The Scar Kept Growing After the Wound Closed. That Is Not Vanity.

Skin Conditions · Published 2026-09-21 · 9 min read · 2063 words

Keloids outgrow the injury. Hypertrophic scars stay inside it. On SA skin of colour, stop picking, shade the mound, and see someone who injects scars weekly.

Key takeaways

• Keloids cross the border. Hypertrophic scars stay inside it.
• Excision alone is how many keloids return larger.
• Sun on a new mound writes pigment on top of volume.
• Ask how often the clinician injects scars on dark skin.

Source: Keloid and hypertrophic scar algorithms / skin-of-colour scar reviews / Isaacs et al. IJD 2025 photoprotection (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK586105/)

Cover image: Unsplash — credit