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Herbal Remedies for Keloid Scars

Keloid scars can be particularly distressing to the sufferer as they are highly visible and are often large or have an inflamed appearance. Surgery or treatment that involves breaking the skin can often lead to further keloid formation and in addition can be painful and expensive. Herbal remedies for keloid scars along with homoeopathic and other natural alternatives are widely available and claims for their effectiveness range from itch relief to total removal of the scar.

Keloids are effectively exaggerated scars. When the skin is broken and a wound occurs the body will produce a protein substance called collagen to act as a wound repair. This would normally result in a type of scar with which we are all familiar. In keloid formation, overgrowth of the collagen results in a scar often many times bigger than the original wound. This can take on the appearance of a large rubbery lesion that may be pink, red or brown. When these form on the head or neck area they can be a source of great embarrassment to the sufferer. They can also be painful and very itchy.

Herbal remedies for keloid scars

There are many different herbal remedies available that range from pastes, salves and ointments to pills and other medicines for ingestion.

There appears to be very little evidence to support the efficacy of many of these alternatives. An absence of medical endorsement doesn’t necessarily mean that an alternative and natural solution doesn’t work, however the Internet is littered with negative reviews for many of these products from keloid sufferers.

Natural Oils

• Peanut oil, tea tree oil, camphor and calendula are amongst other natural ingredient remedies that are promoted or suggested.

• Karanja oil for keloid scars is also one of the suggestions. The oil is derived from the Karanja tree which is native to India and has been used for centuries in traditional medicine. However, at the time of writing I have been unable to find any evidence to suggest that this treatment is any more effective than the many others available.

One company in Denmark whose purpose is to investigate and test the many natural alternatives available, as replacements to conventional pharmaceutical company products, has done extensive research into keloid herbal remedies. They have arrived at a list of 3 products that according to them are the only ones that are effective for keloid scars. They include an Australian company who produce a herbal pill from many natural ingredients; a New Zealand company who uses Wattle bark, elephant creeper and nutmeg, amongst other ingredients, and claim a 92% success rate; a Danish company who claim a 95% success rate. All of these companies offer money back guarantees.

As with so many natural remedies they appear to be highly effective for some users and in other cases totally ineffective. Reports are possible to find from keloid sufferers extolling the use of one natural product or another. However, many of the keloid scar herbal remedies suggested seem to be extremely expensive to buy so experimentation with different products could prove very costly. Advancements are continuously being made in both conventional and alternative medicine and with continuing trials and studies it is hoped that an effective treatment for keloid scars will be found.

Article by Outofstress.com expert author ‘Deneice Arthurton’