It can be hard for African Americans to find a good scar cream. People with black skin are more prone to keloid scar creation.

Not only people with black skin but also other ethnic groups such as Hispanics, and Asians are more prone to this type of unsightly scars. Unfortunately these scars can not be avoided but the risk on development can be decreased.

First of all it is recommended to use an antibiotic ointment (e.g. Neosporin ) when the wound heals.

Another measure to boost wound healing and avoid complications such as infections (which indirectly increase the risk on scar tissue creation) are Medihoney wound dressings. Keeping a wound covered, clean, and protected will result in less scar tissue.

The best scar cream for black skin would be a silicone cream. This because silicones have shown to reduce the risk on disgraceful keloids. Especially when they are used on fresh scars. Apart from that they have also shown to remove keloids (only in some cases since keloids are hard to get rid of). Silicone gel creams also soften and flatten red, purple, raised, scars.

Here’s a list of commercially available silicone scar creams. I commonly recommend ScarAway or Kelo-cote because these are made of 100% silicones and do not contain less effective ingredients. According to studies silicone gel sheets are more effective than creams but the downside is that their use may be less convenient.



Something About Topical steroids.
Some people use a cortisone ointment (commonly prescription) but there are risks on using this kind of treatment. Reported side effects are discolorization and thinning of the skin.

Cortisone (steroid) creams are also used to help alleviate vitiligo, a skin disorder that causes depigmentation of patches of skin affecting black people. But steroids are not recommended for the treatment of vitiligo because steroids may help initially for a short time but may lead to a relapse of this condition.

Keloids (keloidal scars) are thick, lumpy, and grow beyond the borders of the original wound site. Contrary to other scars keloids commonly appear approximately two months after injury.

They may continue to grow and thus cover relatively large areas of skin. They can be itchy and painful. Keloid scar treatment generally is time consuming because they are difficult to treat effectively.

Healthcare professionals make a distinction between minor and major keloids. A minor keloid is a focally raised, itchy scar that extends over normal tissue. It may develop up to one year after injury and does not reduce in size without treatment. A major keloid grows over normal tissue and can continue to extend for years.

There aren’t many over-the-counter keloid scar treatment options because of the low response of this type of scar tissue to treatment. Actually the only home remedy would be silicone sheeting.

However results of silicone sheeting as a keloid treatment are inconstant. Some keloids regress while in other cases silicone sheeting has little to no effect on keloid scars. I guess the best chance on removing a keloid with silicones is to start treating it as it is still small. Silicones are also used as a prevention measure.

When silicone sheeting doesn’t work steroid injections (also referred to as intralesional steroids or corticosteroids) might offer a solution. Although this treatment is relatively safe it can be slightly painful. There are also some possible side effects. The scar may become depressed (skin atrophy), discolorization, and increased scar redness might occur. Steroid injections are usually given each 4 to 6 weeks until the keloid has flattened.

Sometimes steroid injections are administered in conjunction with laser treatment and cryotherapy (freezing). Cryotherapy is done with liquid nitrogen. This treatment may flatten keloid scars but often darkens the tissue.

The problem with surgical keloid treatment is that this type of scar has such a tenacious tendency to grow back. Another problem is that regularly an even bigger keloid may form.

Estimates on recurrence rates vary but are approximately between 45 to 100%. source “When used in combination with steroids the recurrence rate is much better – less than 50%.” (Berman and Bieley, 1995, Urioste, Arndt and Dover, 1999).

Because of these downsides of surgical incision this treatment is often combined with silicone sheeting, surgical taping, compression, radiotherapy, and intralesional steroid injections.

“Surgical excision is the most longstanding, simplest, and only definitive way of removing keloid tissue and reducing the width of the scar. However, its effectiveness as a single mode of treatment is limited and sometimes counterproductive.

In fact surgery for the treatment of keloid scars has been relegated mainly to a second-line therapy for lesions unresponsive to steroids or pressure, and for large lesions requiring debulking.” (Mustoe et al., 2002).

“Citrus limon (lemon). Lemon’s role as an antimicrobial agent has been widely reported. However, despite numerous anecdotal reports, there is only one case report in the medical literature involving the use of lemon juice on keloids.” (Rueter, G. Treatment with lemon juice in the prevention of recurrences of keloid. Zentralbl Chir. 1973;98(16):604-6. )

Aldara iquimod prescription cream has shown to be effective in reducing keloidal scar tissue in some cases. Also dermatix, a steroid cream seems to diminish keloids in a slow but effective pace for some people. Kenacomb is another prescription steroid cream which might be worth a try.