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| My life with Keloids |
| Hmmm... my life with Keloids. Although I know on the grand scale of things my scars aren't as bad as some unfortunate people out there but that's what frustrates me is that apparently there's very little that can be done when it comes down to Keloid scars. My scars are relatively small and I still cannot rid myself of them. Speaking to a consultant for a possible plastic surgery procedure one time, upon rejecting me and while leaving the establishment on London�s infamous Harley Street, he turned around to me and made this bold statement. "Keloids are found primarily in pigmented skin, the white man has done very little research into Keloids. If Keloids had been a white mans problem then a solution would most probably have been discovered." A strange statement to make considering this particular consultant was white. I'm just turning 30 and the first time I noticed my overactive scarring is when I was 20 years of age. A young man, possibly psychologically disturbed, at the end of his tether, in need of attention, took a cutlery fork and ran it down my left arm twice and then across the already bleeding streaks. The wounds to me didn't appear to be very deep and in some places there where only surface scratches and so I didn't seek any medical attention. The blood congealed and I washed it after a couple of days. The result was a scar that kept getting bigger and bigger and I thought it would flatten over a few months. The scar reached the size it roughly is today and never really flattened out. About 4 years later I burnt myself in a cigarette accident while lying in bed. In a half daze it slipped out of my mouth and onto my chest. This small burn grew into a scar easily more than 10 times the size of the original wound. It joined with a newly formed scar, origin unknown, in the nearby vicinity into the scar I have on my chest today. Another scar appeared about 3 years ago, again origin unknown, about an inch and half lower that the one on my chest and now recently, about a year and a half ago, a smaller scar has appeared an inch below that one. These could have originated from spots but I'm only guessing. Out of the 2 main scars, the big one on my chest, the one on my arm; the one on my chest is the real problem for me. Not only am I conscious of it like when I�m on the beach or in the gym changing rooms, but it's also the most painful. It irritates, it rubs on my clothing causing even more irritation and every now and then it suddenly alerts me with a sharp pain of which i can only describe as someone poking it with a point of a very sharp knife from behind the scar. The scar on my arm I�ve learnt to deal with. I used to cover it up with a bandage whenever I wore a t-shirt but now it's on show. Young Kids have pointed in public, asking mom "that man's got slugs on his arm", yobs shouting, colleagues and friends ask questions but this I�ve gotten used to and every now and again whip out a totally fictitious shark attack story or the quick lets move on 'arm caught in some barbed wire' line. It's better than saying 'guy with a fork'. |
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