This 15-year-old teenager presented with a left ear keloid as depicted below. An injury to his ear at the age of 6 gradually led to the development of this keloid. Prior to this presentation, he had undergone keloid removal surgery, three times. and his keloid had regrown after each surgery. He had also received multiple steroid injections with no apparent benefit.

The family has taken him to one of the most prominent medical centers in the country, where he was again advised to receive steroid injections. He was self-referred to Dr. Tirgan in July 2014 for the management of this keloid.

It may be quite hard to appreciate the stress that this recurrent ear keloid has imposed on this young man.  He has been dealing with this keloid for several years and has undergone several painful procedures.  Luckily, at the time of this presentation he had no pain or discomfort from the keloid. What is noticeable in the photograph is that the prior surgeries have resulted in some degree of loss of normal ear tissues, and somewhat altered his ear anatomy. The goal of treatment for this nodular ear keloid is two folds:

1. We need to totally remove the keloid from his ear.
2. We also need to preserve and somewhat reshape the ear to improve it appearance and continuity of the edge of the ear.

Both goals can be achieved with proper use of Cryotherapy.  After thorough discussion of the treatment plan with the youngster and his family, the first treatment was applied to the keloid on July 15, 2014.

The patient returned for follow up in November 2014. By then the mass of keloid has reduced. The keloid was re-treated during this visit.

By January 2015, the keloid was considerably smaller. The remnant of keloid was treated with cryotherapy again.