[the_Watchman]

It is very hard to determine just how severe his head injury was. He has a large keloid scar on his scalp which would develop over time. He may have simply had a scalp laceration and the scar may have grown over time.

Do you have medical qualifications? If you do, is there any way to conjecture the severity of the original wound based on the mass of the scar tissue? Care to guess how long it would have taken to heal sufficiently for a soldier to return to combat?

[MediaMole]

No medical qualifications, just a friend who is susceptible to keloid scars.

Unlike other scars, keloids continue to grow over time.

[SC DOC]

Having seen and treated many keloids this size, I can tell you there is absolutely no correlation between the severity of the injury and the size of the subsequent keloid. I have seen keloids this size start from an ear piercing or a pimple. Likewise, they often will recur larger than the original keloid after an attempt at removal. While they are a benign overgrowth of fibroblastic scar tissue in susceptible individuals, they are often unsightly and sometimes are painful and itch. The most successful treatment is surgical removal followed by immediate low dose radiation.

In this case the scalp injury could have been quite severe, or may have been a bandaid shrapnel wound like Kerry sustained. We will not know without his medical records.

[GeorgiaLee]

There is no way to tell how serious the head wound was from the keloid. A very small scar can grow to horrific porportions many times the size of the original wound. Some keloid scars never stop growing. No, I am not a medical professional, yes, I have personal experience with them. A less than 1/8 inch scar has grown to over 4 inches long and over 2 inches wide over 15 years.