Keloid Removal with Rubber Bands? (photo)

As my colleagues have pointed out, the rubber band remedy is best avoided.  Keloids are an abnormal scarring response to injury and look different than regular scar tissue under a microscope.  The literature shows that all excisional techniques carry a roughly 50% recurrence rate.  The best approach is to use some form of injectable anti-inflammatory like kenalog in a staged series of injections prior to excising the softened and sometimes diminished keloid.  My concern is that rubber band strangulation may irritate the keloid and make it far worse.

I treat a lot of keloids and the most reliable treatment in my practice is surgical excision and closure of the keloids.

The only safe and effective method to remove the keloid from your ear is to have it surgically removed.  You should definitely not try and remove it with a rubber band, which could potentially cause other problems and even make it worse.  

I have treated thousands of these in my career. They need surgical excision and reconstruction with adjuvant treatment

PLEASE do not attempt "home remedies"!!! See a PS in your city to have excision + steroid + possible radiation at same time interval. 

I agree with the sentiment of my colleagues that rubber bands will not work and you should not try this at home. With that said, there are published techniques using suture ligation of keloids that work well. This requires several visits to your surgeons office and a significant period of time for the keloid to essentially become starved of a blood supply and fall off. The best and most expeditious option, however, is to have it surgically removed in the office by a plastic surgeon. I hope this information is helpful.Stephen Weber MD, FACS

If you decide to try this, I also have some very nice beachfront property in Arizona to sell you. In other words, NO! No one should perform procedures like this at home! These are surgical operations that need to be done by trained physicians only. What are you going to do when the site bleeds profusely, or has sack of fluid in it, or has such a bad infection afterwards that you end up in the hospital? All of these things have happened to patients I know, who I am now taking care of and trying to resolve issues they caused with home care for moles, warts, keloids, etc. Stop treating yourself and reading about silliness on the internet. Go to a physician for a consultation and proper surgical care.