Day 26 - healed. It is finished

I havent been cleaning it as often as i used to. I have been keeping it dry, it hasnt been oozing pus so it was alright. It has been slightly itchy, id only itch around it but not the actual area. Today the scab came off in two layers. So that is all.

Here is the outcome below:

I have ordered a pressure earring and this is what it looks like. It doesnt fit too well only because of where my keloid was placed. Its a weird, thick, unleveled area. So maybe this will be okay for now, but i will invest in another more stronger holding earring. Then i will mostly use this one for special occasions :p

The journey has ended (: thank you. I will post up an update to see how life after removal has been.

Day 13 - healing

So here is a collection of my healing journey pictures. Its getting flakey around it, im not bothered by it. It does get itchy around the area, but I resist. Never do I scratch the area directly or attempt to peel.

I clean it whenever, mostly after a shower. Not paying any attention to it. After the shower, i dry it with a q-tip. I roll it on the surface, applying slight pressure. Sometimes, fluid will ooze out, and thats ok. Just dry it up some more with the q-tip, then finish off with a layer of disinfectant. I like to keep it as dry as possible.

 

 

(4)(5)(6)

 

(5) i woke and noticed some crispy golden stuff around the left edge. I just cleaned it up using a q-tip + disinfectant. I notice im able to slip the cotton bud underneath the scab. I dont wanna peel it off, just in case the whole thing is not ready. I took a peak and it was raw and pink. So i left it as it is, only clean (:

 

(6) today it was normal. no golden crisps this time. Flaking around the edges, itchy around the outside. I only do itch my skin, not the scab. This includes behind the ear and the very outside of the ear (the side, not the surface). Still carrying on my cleaning as normal. I won't pop the scab off until it's ready (when the skin is fully healed underneath and not raw and wet) -- even though half of it can be lifted off without pain.

Day 12 - healing process (3)

IDay 3 of post-op (lol)

You can see how big the keloid really was! Wow, it probably was the size of a grape!

The first pic is it before shower, and then post shower after cleaning. I do find the that second picture is more true to real life than the first one. However the red in the left is real, tho it lacks detail.

 

The way i clean the area now is quite different. Instead of soaking the ear, I would keep it as dry as possible. Of course if it gets wet, its not the end of the world. I would then dry the area with a cotton bud, then use the other side to pat on a layer of disinfectant.

In my past experience on a scraped knee, i would wipe off the layer of gunk that'll form over my wound. I felt this was the wrong move, because then i find my wound re-healing itself. So i do believe that the hard layer that gets soft in the shower should remain. No matter how easy it is to scoop off with the cotton bud. (Given that it is not pus, otherwise clear the pus. Know the difference) I also   reckon it leaves a scar behind :p thats just me though. 

This photo is what i have been using throughout my keloid killing journey.

The disinfectant was being used by someone else, so i rinsed out a small jar that used to hold brand new contact lenses, and put some Dettol in it. Then, i would dip the q-tip in it and use it that way.

Throughout this whole journey, that is all the disinfectant I used. It used to be full. Today I only used 1 q-tip. Prior to the keloid falling off, I would go through as many as it took to have the area cleaned to my liking.

It had to be dried. dried pus all gone, and patted down with disinfectant.

Day 09 (cont.) - So this happened

I managed to get it off lol.
I couldn't wait for nature to take its course so I played with it. It did hurt a very little bit. I wouldn't have played with it if it did cause great pain. I twisted it one way and see how far it could go. Then it just loosened and came off.

Now let the healing game begin.
After this, I would put a pressure earring on it to prevent it from growing back.

Before.. and after.

 

It's crazy how huge the keloid is, and how much it has shrivelled up and died. Of course, my excessive use of rubber bands could be the reason for this. TYJ for this day! I just put another layer of disinfectant on it and now I will be sleeping happily. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 09 - vigorous cleaning

Today my keloid remained the same as yesterday.
My keloid is rock solid, no pain when you squeeze it. I am able to sleep carefully on it, even though it is clearly hanging off a piece of skin now. [I was hoping it'll fall of in my sleep this way... However, it did not]

These pictures are showing just how close it is to falling off.
I had just finished cleaning it.

 

 I had a shower and ran my ear under the water for as much of my shower possible. This will allow the injury to soften up so that when you clean it, all the unnecessary gunk will come off easier. One my shower was done, I used a clean cotton bud to dry the area. I would roll the q-tip over the area. Then I would clean around the actual hanging keloid in a way that will weaken the remaining base. I do this in the hopes that it'll pop off without pain.

I decided to check to see if I can fall off by tugging on it gently. I twisted it one way until pain occurred (not a major pain, just enough to ensure myself it wasn't ready to come off). Then i'd twist it the other way in the same manner. No luck. But I did manage to loosen it up from one end. so it's hanging even more that yesterday. Nearly there. I didn't tighten the string. I forgot to, but I'm not fussed. Waiting game... tick tock.

Day 7 skip. Day 8 - the bands are off with a dramatic change

I skipped day 07 because it couldn't look any more identical to day 06. So here is what they look like today, the same as yesterday, the same as the day before.... Nothing but bands bands bands!

 

 

So I decided to get to the heart of the matter and see what's going on underneath these bands. At the point of removal, the only difficult part was getting them off LOL (duh) because they were intertwined. I did have seven after all. 5 plastic bands and 2 rubber bands.

 

Photo: 

Left -  we have my keloid, half way to total nakedness.

Right - total nude keloid. Holistic view from the back, where all the action is.

 

WOW! so that is what was hiding under my rubber bands? Is this what all the agony on day 1 was about. For me, this is a very quick process compared to my last keloid removal using this method. Under HALF the time!

This time I didn't wait for a shower to clean the keloid because I couldn't be bothered. All I wanted to do was remove the bands and clean the keloid. I want to shower later on in the day. So, that's exactly what I did. I removed my bands with the help of some scissors. It wasn't difficult at all (I would've though the bands would be stuck like glue to it, in that case I would have to take a shower to run some warm water over it for easier removal).

So this is what it looks like right now.

Photo:
Left - Naked keloid with just a piece of sting tied securely under the keloid. It if just hang off a piece of skin that is still too painful to come off (Yeah, I tested it out to see if it were easy enough to pull off with no pain.. there was pain, so I left it)
Right - The side view shot. So close for this journey to be over

Meanwhile... My pressure earring is on it's way. I don't mind that it'll come after it drops. I'm guessing my ear would have to heal before adding any pressure to it. I'm thinking that even if it does START to form, I'm sure the pressure earring will reduce and stop it.