Belaray Dermatology – Jericho, Plainview, Long Island, NY

Keloids, the overgrowth of scar tissue, can be found in up to 1 of every 5 Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians.  They normally begin after trauma such as ear piercing.  Treatment of keloids is fraught with challenges, as they often recur after conventional surgery – sometimes larger than before.  At the 2007 Florida Society of Dermatologic Surgeons – Annual Meeting, Dr. Jeffrey Ellis has presented a new technique for the treatment of keloids using Radiosurgery with promising results.

            “Keloids are very common, and we have tried to treat them with everything from traditional excision, pressure earrings, creams, injections, to silicone sheeting,” Ellis said.  “The use of Radiosurgery to treat keloids is a new approach, and we are very excited by the results so far.”  In Ellis’s pilot study, he used the Ellman Surgitron Dual Frequency device to carefully excise a series of earlobe keloids. 

Ellis chose to use the Ellman device due to it’s ability to meticulously sculpt tissue, while providing minimal trauma.  It utilizes a special high frequency of 4.0MHz which minimizes heat dissipation and thus scarring.  “One of the biggest problems with conventional surgery when excising a keloid,” Ellis says “is that trauma and tissue injury is inherent in the procedure.  This serves as a seed for a new keloid to grow in place of the old… sometimes a larger and more aggressive one.”  With Ellis’s new technique, tissue trauma at the time of excision is minimized, offering a better chance of long term cure.  And the results so far are very promising.

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