Silicone sheets and pressure: preventing keloids before they form

For someone with a keloid tendency, the most powerful intervention is not a treatment for an existing keloid but prevention at the moment of injury or surgery. Two simple measures have real evidence behind them.

Silicone, as sheets or gel, applied to a healing wound and worn consistently for weeks to months reduces the chance of a raised scar by hydrating and regulating the scar tissue. Pressure therapy, applying steady compression to a healing wound or scar, similarly discourages overgrowth and is a mainstay after keloid removal. Both are low-risk and inexpensive, and both demand consistency to work.

The practical message for keloid-prone people: before any elective procedure, discuss a scar-prevention plan, and after any wound, start silicone and protect the area early. Waiting until a keloid has formed forfeits the easiest window to control it. Prevention is unglamorous, slow, and far more effective than chasing an established keloid after the fact.

Related reading: Steroid injections: the first-line keloid treatment.