A WOMAN had a “turd”-like growth sliced off her chest by Dr Pimple Popper after being subjected to cruel jibes by a date.
Chalamar, 26, developed a thick, raised scar on her chest after getting her sternum pierced.
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The piercing grew itchy after about a year an oblong, “bundled-up” scar started to grow in the same spot.
Chalamar sought the help of Dr Sandra Lee on her show Dr Pimple Popper: Breaking Out.
Chalamar began feeling increasingly self-conscious about the scar.
She had been on a date when it was first labelled a “turd”.
“A guy literally sat across the table from me and called it a turd,” Chalamar told the show.
“I had met this guy online and then the first date comes, the first thing he asked me is what is that thing on my chest and he said it looked like a turd.
“After that I didn’t really want to talk to another man a day in my life.”
The 26-year-old – who lives in Phoenix, Arizona – got up and left there and then, and turned her back on dating after the distressing incident.
Previously know for her extravagant and colourful outfits, Chalamar refused to wear revealing clothing and insisted on covering up her chest.
Battling depression, the one-time party animal even refused to go out.
Chalamar first got her ear pierced in 2018, noticing that it continued to feel sore afterwards. But she decided to follow this up by getting her sternum pierced too.
She grew raised scars – known as keloids – in both spots.
Chalamar tried to get the growth on her ear removed by a dermatologist, but it just grew back afterwards.
“The one on my ear feels a bit like a grape, the one on my chest is bundled up like a turd,” Chalamar said.
Growing tired of hiding herself in hoodies and not feeling comfortable in her body, Chalamar said: “I want a better life for myself.
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“It’s not fair. I should be happy and I don’t feel happy with this stuff being on my ear or on my chest.
“I’m hopeful that all these keloids can be minimised, reduced or taken off so I can go back to living the life that I deserve to live.”
Dr Lee explained that any kind of trauma to the skin – like a piercing – can trigger keloids, which are a common condition.
Hearing about Chalamar’s dating incident, Dr Lee exclaimed: “He’s the turd!”
The world-famous dermatologist anticipated that the growth on Chalamar’s chest would be hard to remove and warned there was a chance of a raised scar growing back because the skin in the area gets “tugged” at so much.
What are keloids?
A keloid scar is a raised scar left on the skin after a wound has healed.
It usually appears a few weeks to years after you damage or injure your skin, such as after a cut, burn or acne.
They’re thought to be caused by dysfunction of the wound-healing process.
Collagen — a protein found throughout the body — is useful to wound healing, but when the body produces too much, keloids can form.
Keloid scars are usually raised, hard, smooth and shiny. They can be skin colour, pink, red, purple, brown, or darker than the skin around them.
You can get keloid scars on any part of the body, but they’re most common on the chest, shoulders, chin, neck, lower legs and ears.
It can grow for months or years and become bigger than the original wound.
While it’s growing, it may feel itchy or painful.
You can’t get rid of a keloid scar, but there are treatments that can help improve how it looks and reduce irritation.
Treatments may include:
- Steroid injections or cream
- Silicone dressings or gels
- Cryotherapy (a treatment to freeze the keloid scar)
- Laser therapy
Surgery to remove the keloid scar is not usually recommended because it’s likely to grow back bigger.
Source: NHS
Dr Lee also said the procedure to remove the keloid would also likely leave a scar. But Chalamar was eager to go ahead with the operation.
Dr Lee sliced into the skin on the keloids, pulling out the scar tissue but leaving enough “superficial skin” to stitch the wounds up neatly.
She also took care to keep the scar on Chalamar’s chest as small as possible, to prevent an even bigger keloid from growing back.
A visibly emotional Chalamar looked down at her decolletage after the “turd” was removed.
“It feels flat, I feel like I got my skin back,” she stated.
“I feel free… I finally get to show my cleavage off now there’s no more chest turd.”
She underwent superficial radiation treatment following the procedure to prevent the keloid from reforming.
And Dr Lee said: “I’m so proud of how good she looks now that turd is off her chest.”
Three weeks after the op, Chalamar was ready to show of chest and hit the town.
“So glad I get to be hot again,” she said.
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