What No One Tells You About Inflammation and Keloids—The Real Reason Your Scar Won’t Stop Growing

 

Most people think keloids are just "overhealed scars."

But after dealing with my own chest keloid for nearly five years—and watching it swell, flatten, itch, flare, and seemingly take on a personality of its own—I started asking a deeper question:

Why is my body still reacting, years after the skin has healed?

The answer, it turns out, has a lot more to do with inflammation than you think. And no, your dermatologist probably won’t bring this up unless you ask.

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First—What Even Is a Keloid?

A keloid is not a typical scar. It’s like your body’s internal repair crew refusing to clock out, endlessly pouring new collagen into a wound that’s already healed. The result? A raised, rubbery scar that keeps growing beyond the original injury site.

But the real kicker is this:

Keloids behave more like a chronic condition than a one-time wound response.
And that’s where inflammation sneaks into the picture.

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Inflammation: The Body’s Overprotective Parent

Inflammation is your immune system’s 911 call. You twist an ankle, cut your finger, or get a pimple—your body floods the area with fluid, white blood cells, and chemical messengers to contain the damage and start repairs.

It’s helpful.
Until it isn’t.

When inflammation becomes prolonged or misfired—like from stress, certain foods, infections, or even overly harsh skincare—it can push the body into a low-grade, always-on emergency mode. And for those genetically prone to keloids, this can spell disaster.

"Think of it like this: your body misreads a scratch as a stab wound and sends the cavalry… indefinitely."

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The Inflammatory Loop That Feeds Keloids

1. Trigger: A minor skin injury (like acne, a piercing, or even ingrown hair) starts normal healing.

2. Excessive Inflammatory Response: Your body releases way more cytokines (inflammatory signals) than needed.

3. Overproduction of Collagen: Instead of slowing down, fibroblasts (your skin’s builders) get revved up like they drank five Red Bulls.

4. Prolonged Activity: Even when healing should stop, your skin’s on a never-ending loop of build-repair-repeat.

5. Result: The scar continues growing—even months or years later.

Sound familiar?

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Why You Might Still Be Triggering Inflammation Daily (Without Knowing It)

• Chronic stress increases cortisol, which ironically makes your body more reactive to injury.

• Poor sleep reduces recovery and regulation, making your immune response jumpy and erratic.

• Inflammatory foods (think sugar, dairy, fried foods, seed oils) keep your baseline inflammation elevated.

• Skincare with alcohol, synthetic fragrance, or harsh exfoliants can aggravate skin micro-barriers, constantly lighting tiny internal fires.

• Low-grade infections or candida overgrowth? Another hidden driver.

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So... Can You Calm the Fire?

Here’s what worked for me (and yes, my keloid actually stopped growing for the first time in years):

✅ Anti-inflammatory diet (less processed sugar, more greens, turmeric, omega-3s)
✅ Daily mindfulness + breathing to regulate my nervous system (your skin feels your stress)
✅ Swapping to fragrance-free skincare—no more “burning” acne treatments
✅ Zinc, vitamin D, and quercetin supplements (all backed by studies for modulating inflammation)

And most importantly, I stopped seeing my keloid as a skin problem and started seeing it as a systemic one.

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Final Thoughts: Your Keloid Isn’t Misbehaving—Your Body’s Just Misunderstood

This isn’t about blaming yourself or going down a rabbit hole of wellness anxiety.
It’s about realizing that your skin isn’t acting on its own. It’s responding to signals—from food, stress, trauma, and more.

And if we can tune into those signals, we stop seeing keloids as ugly, stubborn mistakes…
…and start seeing them as messengers.

Messengers asking:
“What in your body still feels unsafe to stop healing?”