Chest Keloid Surgery with SRT Q&A: Georgia, United States

Last updated: October 1, 2026

This Q&A features a woman from Georgia, United States, who had a chest keloid surgically removed, along with SRT (Superficial Radiation Therapy) and other treatments. Three years after surgery, it has not returned.

Chest Keloid Surgery Success Q&A

Answers may have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Question: Where are you from and what is your ethnic background?

Answer: I live in Georgia and I’m a Black American.

Q: What caused the keloid to form on your chest?

Answer: I had chicken pox at age 6 and got my first keloid on my chest. It was the size of a small pimple at first but as I grew, it would get irritated and grow larger.

Question: Prior to having it surgically removed with SRT (Superficial Radiation Therapy) had you tried other treatments?

Answer: Yes in 2012 I decided to have it surgically removed but didn’t get SRT. It grew back within 6 months. I also would get steroid injections every once in a while, but the injections were so painful that I would take long breaks between injections. My doctors didn’t provide any numbing agent with the injections. My symptoms got worse over the years with itching and burning pain. It would even wake me up when I was sleeping on my side.

Question: How did the surgery go?

Answer: In September 2023 I had the surgery with Dr. Travis Blalock from Emory Dermatology in Atlanta, GA. I was awake and experienced no pain during the procedure, which took about 45 minutes. After the surgery, I got my first radiation therapy. The actual radiation appointment only took about 15 minutes. The next day, and the following day I also went in for radiation therapy, so 3 days in total.

Here is a link to her doctor: Travis Blalock MD Emory

Question: In addition to the SRT (Superficial Radiation Therapy) what other treatments did you apply after surgery?

Answer: It took about 6 weeks for my skin to heal on the surface. I started using silicone sheets as soon as I could which helped with the sensitivity of my skin and clothing rubbing on it. My doctor helped me find a provider to create a custom garment that would apply pressure on the scar. I asked for extra pieces of foam on the chest to help keep my scar flat. I think the garment made a big difference in keeping my scar flat. At the same time, I started applying Eclar plaster to my scar 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I changed the tape every 24 hours. I slowly saw results. During my next follow up visit to the doctor they suggested I get a combination of steroid and 5-FU injections. So every 12 weeks I received the steroid injections. I wore the Eclar plaster for 2 years.

Question: Now in 2026 are you satisfied with the results, a few years later?

Answer: Yes. My hard work has paid off. My chest keloid scar is flat, painless and doesn’t itch at all. I no longer wear Eclar plaster. I do wear silicone sheets now.

Question: Did you pay out of pocket or did insurance cover this treatment?

Answer: Insurance has covered all of my treatments. I don’t know the cash cost for everything, but my surgery and radiation would have been like $7,000.

Chest Keloid Considerations

Congratulations to this woman on having her chest keloid removed and keeping it from returning years later. Treating a very large chest keloid successfully over the long term is no small achievement, regardless of what treatment plan is chosen. Here are a few of my thoughts from her experience.

She said she didn’t receive steroid injections regularly because they were painful, and her doctor did not offer a numbing agent or local anesthetic. That’s understandable: injections into keloids can be painful and if you’re not seeing tangible progress it’s hard to want to continue. In my experience, the injections became less painful over time as the keloid gradually shrinks in size. Moreover, if you’re keeping your keloid scar tissue moisturized with lotion and soft by using silicone sheets regularly, it becomes much less painful. The harder the keloid the more painful the injections, the softer the keloid, the less painful. The bottom line is that without consistent regular monthly steroid injections, you aren’t going to flatten your keloid scar. Treatment with injections requires two components: regularity every month and the right concentration of Kenalog.

Looking at the size and thickness of her keloid before surgery, I tend to believe that regular Kenalog-40 injections may have fully flattened it. Add consistent moisturizing with lotion and silicone sheet usage alongside the injections, or possibly Eclar plaster as part of the treatment plan with injections, I believe she had a very good chance of flattening the scar and relieving the pain and itching. She wasn’t aware of the concentration of Kenalog she received and that is one of the lessons many of us with keloid scars have to learn on our own, unfortunately. I was among them. Dermatologists who don’t have much experience treating keloid scars will use a weaker concentration of Kenalog that is not effective, leaving the patient to draw the conclusion that injections on the whole are ineffective. Unless your keloid scar is paper thin, Kenalog-40 mg/mL is the concentration you should be using for maximum impact on flattening. This is a 6 month to 12 month endeavor for most keloid patients with thick scars. Occasional follow up injections after that initial success of flattening your keloid scars is often required.

From everything I’ve read and heard, chest keloids can be very difficult to treat successfully with surgery, even when it’s combined with postoperative treatments. Given the additional risks of radiation, I believe it’s important to exhaust other treatment options before choosing this route. Regardless, I’m happy it worked out for her.