Sometimes scar tissue grows over the boundaries of the original wound, creating a puffy, round protrusion called a keloid. Hypertrophic scars and keloids may be itchy, tender, or painful.
Hard or thickened raised tissue over your wound site. Pink to red to purple skin color over your wound site. Scar appears most commonly on the upper trunk of your body – your back, chest, shoulders, upper arms – and skin that covers your joints. Scar develops one to two months after injury.
How are scars diagnosed? You can easily diagnose most scars yourself by keeping an eye on an area of skin that has healed from an injury. Scars often look darker, lighter or pinker than the surrounding skin. Your healthcare provider will do a physical examination to evaluate a scar that's causing problems.
A key feature is that scar tissue typically has irregular borders as opposed to smooth borders of many neoplasms.
Internal scar tissue overgrowth can cause pain, stiffness, itching, or numbness. Someone with adhesions may feel like they are pulling on internal structures, causing pain and tightness that often increases with certain movements. Adhesions near the joints can significantly impact function and mobility.
For best results, you should perform scar massage for at least 10 minutes, twice a day, for six months. You should only stop sooner than that if the scar starts showing signs of infection or you experience intolerable discomfort.
Scar tissue can have a local area of pain when touched or stretched or it can produce a referred pain that feel like that of a nerve which is a constant annoying burn that occasionally turns sharp.
Breast tissue in and of itself can feel somewhat lumpy and sponge-like, so it can be hard to know if what you're feeling is an actual lump or just normal breast tissue. "A breast lump will feel like a distinct mass that's noticeably more solid than the rest of your breast tissue.
Keloids are elevated hypertrophic scars that extend beyond the borders of the original wound, do not regress spontaneously, and usually recur after excision. They are more common in persons with darker skin pigmentation and appear as firm to hard, flesh-colored to red nodules with a smooth surface.
In particular, dense fibrous tissue laid down in a parenchymal biopsy scar can produce a mammographically visible mass which characteristically demonstrates poorly defined and spiculated margins due to the retraction that occurs adjacent to scar tissue.
Scar tissue's random layering — typically in crisscross patterns — results in a tough, fibrous tissue that doesn't move as freely, have as much blood flow and is structurally weaker. The resulting stiffness creates a physical barrier to natural movement and can cause discomfort.
Physical Exam
A dermatologist examines your skin to determine what type of scar you have. He or she makes note of its location and size because scars may have different characteristics depending on where they are on the body.
Scar Process
It will take six to 18 months for the scar to have its final appearance. Your scar should gradually soften and fade over these six to 18 months, but will look pink initially (photo B). Some scars never fade. If your scar stays pink after 12 to 18 months please call to discuss options.
Skin Cysts
Cysts can appear anywhere on your body and may look and feel like a small, hard pea. The most common causes of cyst formation include clogged oil glands, infections, and a growth that develops around a foreign body such as an earring or navel ring.
Soft tissues connect and protect your bones and other structures. When you fall, collide with something hard, or suffer a blow, you can damage your soft tissue. This causes pain, swelling, and often bruising. Sometimes, you may even have a lump.
When these knots or bands of scar tissue are encountered, both the clinician and the patient sense a restriction, almost like a speed bump or a granular feeling. The instrument can then be used to identify and treat areas exhibiting soft tissue fibrosis or chronic inflammation.
Overview. A keloid scar is a thick raised scar. It can occur wherever you have a skin injury but usually forms on earlobes, shoulders, cheeks or the chest. If you're prone to developing keloids, you might get them in more than one place.
Sometimes what feels like a lump is just dense breast tissue or a ridge of breast tissue. Regular breast self-exams can help women familiarize themselves with their breasts, Dr. Feigin says. Menstruating patients should examine themselves about seven days after starting their period every month.
A cancerous lump is usually hard, not soft or squishy. And it often has angular, irregular, asymmetrical edges, as opposed to being smooth, Dr. Comander says. In order for you to feel a cancerous lump, it probably has to be rather large and closer to the surface of the skin.
See a GP if:
your lump gets bigger. your lump is painful, red or hot. your lump is hard and does not move. your lump lasts more than 2 weeks.
Indications of Internal Scar Tissue:
Persistent or recurrent pain in a specific area, particularly after surgery, trauma, or inflammation. Changes in organ function or symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, breathing, or gastrointestinal issues. Restricted range of motion or stiffness in joints or muscles.
Healing wounds may itch, but you should avoid the temptation to scratch them. “Scratching the wound or picking at the scab causes more inflammation, making a scar more likely,” Fisher says.
You may feel some pulling. Loosening the scar may be more comfortable to do while the skin is warm (such as after a shower). Make sure your skin is dry and do not use cream so your fingers do not slide while you're trying to do the massage.