Houston Area Physician Patents Groundbreaking Keloid Removal Procedure

July 25, 2011 - PRLog -- Houston based facial plastic and reconstruction surgeon, Dr. Canaan Harris, recently patented his innovative procedure, solving one of medicine’s long time mysteries, keloid removal; creating a procedure that permanently removes most keloid scaring.

Keloid scarring is one of the most frustrating clinical problems in plastic and reconstructive surgery often times reoccurring after the initial removal process. Keloids form after dermal injury with an exuberant an indefinite production of collagen. Dr. Harris’ patented product has proven to be effective in most cases, eliminating the reoccurrence of keloid scars.

Dr. Harris began working on keloid removal over 20 years ago after meeting a woman with keloid scar reoccurrences. The woman had persistent keloids on her face and after several procedures, she still had not found a solution.

“It dawned on me that a lot of people, especially of the African-American descent that have these tumors and have multiple treatments and there hadn’t been anything established to permanently take care of this issue,” Dr. Harris said.

Dr. Harris said reoccurring keloids happens to all types of people, especially people of color. Genetic predisposition and environmental factors also play a large role in keloid scarring.  

“I did a lot of reading, a lot of research and a lot of trial and error to try to minimize the scaring by using the standards that were available to try to gain control of this particular disorder,” Dr. Harris said.

The patented product, Keloil ®, is composed of a slow absorbing material with various concentrations of kenalog that is strategically placed in the wound after excision. Variation in placement in the wound is directly related to the wound size and length.

Keloid scaring tends to occur in highly pigmented individuals with a familial tendency. Although keloid formation has numerous theories, no single hypothesis adequately explains keloid formation.

“I tried everything that was known and I knew there had to be some kind of way to control keloid scarring,” Dr. Harris said.

By Interfering with the collagen production system, Dr. Harris has been able to gain control making it difficult for keloids to reoccur.


ABOUT DR. CANAAN HARRIS AND DOWNTOWN INNOVATION

Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Philadelphia, Dr. Harris graduated from Hampton (Institute) University in 1970 continuing to Georgetown University Medical School later to pursue his surgical training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He then completed his residency training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, later serving as the assistant chief of otolaryngology at Wilmington Veteran Administration Hospital.

While in Houston, Dr. Harris has served as the Chief of Surgery at Westbury Hospital and section chief of Otolaryngology at St. Joseph Hospital. He has academic appointments at University of Texas, Houston and University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, as an assistant clinical professor of otolaryngology.

Over the years, Dr. Harris shown great interest in keloid pathology and has tried numerous techniques with mixed results. His innovative Keloil ® product has proven effective in the treatment of this deforming disorder with approximately 85-90% success rate. Also, during the course of his career, Dr. Harris has developed numerous techniques for facial plastic and reconstructive surgery (facial nevi, rhinoplasty, facial implant removal and reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Harris is board-certified in otolaryngology and his other areas of expertise are salivary gland, thyroid and parathyroid surgery both benign and malignant.  Other services Dr. Harris provides include, facial lesion removal, facial implants, hair transplants, eyelid surgery, facelift surgery, ear (auricle) surgery, botox injections, cheek augmentation, chin augmentation, dermabrasion of facial lesion and nasal tip surgery.

Keloil ® is Dr. Harris’ first patented product.

For more information visit www.downtowninnovation.com or call 713- 658-1900.