Keloids

[Bevis]

I get keloids. Keloid scarring is a genetic condition where a person's scar tissue does not stop growing when it covers a wound. The cells keep multiplying till whenever leaving a nasty, bubbly, overgrown scar that won't go away. Medical science doesn't have too much in the way of an explaination. Various treatments (none have I tried, only read about) seem to be hit & miss.

I've noticed that stimulants have an effect on my body's chemistry that supports keloid development. If I drink a Red Bull I can almost be certain to get a new bumpy scar. However, I can't find any sources confirming this.

I'm wondering if anyone else in PWEB land is familiar with keloid scarring & wether or not they've noticed a correlation between keloid growth and an intake of stimulants.

[mr_thebrain]

i had an ex girlfriend that had that problem, the scarring that is. but she never had a problem with stimulants. i think that she was very careful though about getting scars, cuz i don't remember a single time that she was wounded.

my advice, don't drink red bull. the new scarring is simply the wings trying to grow.

[big beans]

I want to see pictures.

[Bevis]

You'll have to wait to see pictures of my own, big beans. If you want to see some really awful ones type keloids into google images.

Yes, mr_thebrain, avoiding Red Bull, coffee, etc would be the way to go. I don't see my schedule allowing for that anytime soon, unfortunately.

[mr_thebrain]

You'll have to wait to see pictures of my own big beans.

seriously, i'm pretty sure no one wants to see those.

[Hegemon]

Pictures and more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keloids

[wigginboy]

Not really the same, but the mention of what causes it kinda made think of posting this. I have a rare(and i mean really rare) blood disorder called vasculitis that causes my blood vessels to rupture, leaving these nasty red marks, big ones called purporae and little ones calles petichiae, on my skin. From what my dermotologist told me, 99% of the time they dont know what causes it and they really have nothing in the way of treating it except with cortisone or dapsone(a treatment for leprosy). However, I noticed that when I ate or drank something containing aspartame, that artificial sweetener of much notoriety, the marks would flare up. So i have been abstaining from anything with this in it and my vasculitis seems to have all but vanished. I seem to have developed an allergy to aspartame, and its possible Bevis might have developed an allergy to whatever is in red bull or other stimulants such as caffeine.

[Bevis]

Everything I can find on caffeine allergies deals with it's similarities to myriad mental illnesses (including but not limited to ADD and dementia). Thanks for the suggestion, anyway, wigginboy. It's something I hadn't thought to look for before.

[vendor]

My wife has an allergy to sunlight when she takes Retin-A. She gets pustular psoriasis. Certain retinoids (vitamin A variants) can remove the symptoms and possibly cure it. It might be a solution for Keloids as well.

http://www.archderm.ama-assn.org/cgi/co ... /121/5/632