Surgical treatment of keloids secondary to ear piercing

Keloids are medically benign, but often psychologically and cosmetically malignant lesions. They are most commonly located on the posterior aspect of the ear lobes. The author's treatment of choice is the combined intralesional steroid and surgical approach. Surgically, the best results are obtained when some of the skin overlying the keloid is used as a split thickness graft after all of the keloidal tissue has been removed. Explicit postoperative wound care instructions are important in insuring complication-free surgery.