Aspiring model has HUGE keloid lumps sliced off her ears after developing the unsightly scars when she had piercings
- WARNING GRAPHIC FOOTAGE AND IMAGES
- Model Sammy started growing keloid lumps on her ears after piercing them
- They grew so large, she always wore her hair down, to conceal the large lumps
- She went to central London clinic to have them removed by Dr Emma Craythorne
- The operation will be aired tonight at 10pm on The Bad Skin Clinic on Quest Red
This is the gruesome moment a young model has large keloid growths removed from her earlobes – a procedure she says transformed her life.
Sammy, an aspiring model and actor, started growing the keloid lumps after having her ears pierced three years ago, and turned down work while trying to cover them up so that nobody would see them.
A video from tonight’s episode of The Bad Skin Clinic shows Sammy having her ears sliced open, and the keloids removed.
The procedure was carried out by dermatological surgeon Dr Emma Craythorne at her clinic in central London, who examined the growths, and recommended having them taken off.
Sammy a model and actor (pictured here before the removal surgery) started growing the large keloids three years ago after having her ears pierced
Pictured her after the surgery, Sammy says before having the lumps removed, people bullied her and were cruel about the growths
Pictured here on the operating table, immediately after surgery, Sammy appears delighted by the results of the procedure
Speaking about the growths, which put her off applying for work, Sammy said: ‘ My skin condition first appeared in my early twenties. I just thought to myself, “What the hell is this?”.
‘I had people making comments all the time. I had someone saying I look like something out of Star Trek. How can you be so mean to someone you don’t know?’
She continued: ‘In my past I have done some acting and modelling. It was something that I had a bit of success in, but because of my ears, I haven’t really felt comfortable enough to apply for jobs.
‘If I didn’t have to hide my ears, I would be the happiest girl on the planet. I just want to rip them out. I do feel like I have to constantly hide them. I feel very ugly.’
Prior to having the operation, Sammy (pictured, right) met with Dr Emma Craythorne (pictured, left) examined the growths and recommended they were removed
Sammy (seen before and after having the operation) says having the surgery ‘transformed [her] life’
After the operation: Dr Emma removed these two keloids from Sammy’s ears. The larger lump on the right was at the back of her lobe, and the smaller one (left) was at the front
During the clip, Dr Emma is seen performing the surgery on Sammy, who was awake during the procedure.
What are keloid scars?
A keloid scar is an enlarged, raised scar that can be pink, red, skin-coloured or darker than the surrounding skin.
They can develop after very minor skin damage, such as an acne spot or a piercing, and spread beyond the original area of skin damage.
Anyone can get a keloid scar, but they’re more common in people with dark skin, such as people from Africa and African-Caribbean and south Indian communities.
Keloid scars are more common on the upper chest, shoulders, head (especially the earlobes after a piercing) and neck, but they can happen anywhere.
Experts do not fully understand what causes keloid scars, but they happen when there’s overproduction of collagen (the skin’s protein).
They’re not contagious or cancerous.
If you have had a keloid scar before, you’re more likely to get another.
Keloid scars can affect anyone, but they’re more common in people with dark skin and it’s thought they may run in families.
Source: NHS
After cutting a serrated line with the knife at the join between the back of her earlobe and the keloid, Dr Emma pulled the skin away to create small triangular flaps.
The doctor then snipped out the large keloid at the back of Sammy’s ear, before severing the smaller one on the front of the lobe and stitching everything back together.
After the lumps were removed, while still on the table, Sammy looked in the mirror and says: ‘I have my ear back!’
She then looked at the lump that was removed from her ear, and said: ‘Oh my god, that was on my ear? It feels so big.’
Discussing keloid growths, and explaining why some people get them, Dr Emma said: ‘We have these cells called fibroblasts and, for somebody who has a tendency to make keloids, whenever your skin is trying to make a scar, these fibroblasts make a bit of collagen, and they make the scar tissue.
‘But they forget to stop and they keep going, more and more and more. And it turns into these bigger balls, essentially. They can become quite itchy and painful because it also is a little bit inflammatory.’
Speaking about the surgery 10 weeks later, Sammy, who has returned to modelling told the programme: ‘Dr Emma exceeded my expectations and she’s definitely transformed my life. My ears are normal again!
‘My keloids aren’t holding me back any more.
‘I’m really excited to start back my modelling career now. I’m getting some new headshots for my acting.
‘Now there’s nothing in the way of me getting to where I want to be.
‘I feel really grateful to Dr Emma. I’m ready to start my life.’
Episode 3 of the new series of The Bad Skin Clinic airs at 10pm tonight on Quest Red, or stream on discovery+
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