There has been a long-standing need for guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars that are based on an understanding of the pathomechanisms that underlie these skin fibrotic diseases. This is particularly true for clinicians who deal with Asian and African patients because these ethnicities are highly prone to these diseases. By contrast, Caucasians are less likely to develop keloids and hypertrophic scars, and if they do, the scars tend not to be severe. This ethnic disparity also means that countries vary in terms of their differential diagnostic algorithms. The lack of clear treatment guidelines also means that primary care physicians are currently applying a hotchpotch of treatments, with uneven outcomes. To overcome these issues, the Japan Scar Workshop (JSW) has created a tool that allows clinicians to objectively diagnose and distinguish between keloids, hypertrophic scars, and mature scars. This tool is called the JSW Scar Scale (JSS) and it involves scoring the risk factors of the individual patients and the affected areas. The tool is simple and easy to use. As a result, even physicians who are not accustomed to keloids and hypertrophic scars can easily diagnose them and judge their severity. The JSW has also established a committee that, in cooperation with outside experts in various fields, has prepared a Consensus Document on keloid and hypertrophic scar treatment guidelines. These guidelines are simple and will allow even inexperienced clinicians to choose the most appropriate treatment strategy. The Consensus Document is provided in this article. It describes (1) the diagnostic algorithm for pathological scars and how to differentiate them from clinically similar benign and malignant tumors, (2) the general treatment algorithms for keloids and hypertrophic scars at different medical facilities, (3) the rationale behind each treatment for keloids and hypertrophic scars, and (4) the body site-specific treatment protocols for these scars. We believe that this Consensus Document will be helpful for physicians from all over the world who treat keloids and hypertrophic scars.

Reducing pain caused by the removal of adhesive wound dressing materials is very important in clinical practice and is also one of the factors to consider when choosing dressing materials. A visual analogue scale is the most popular method for assessing pain, but it is subjective and is difficult to evaluate quantitatively or statistically. Recently, a new method for the quantitative measurement of pain intensity using a painless electrical stimulation system, PainVision™, has been developed. In this study, we evaluated pain intensity during the removal of wound dressing materials in healthy volunteers by comparing pain during the removal of wound dressing materials, which use acrylic pressure‐sensitive adhesive and pain during the removal of materials, which use soft silicone adhesive, as evaluated using the PainVision™ system. Pain intensity was significantly lower with the dressing materials, which use soft silicone adhesive when measured with the PainVision™ system. The PainVision™ system promises to be useful for the quantitative assessment of pain caused by the removal of adhesive wound dressing materials. Further studies are needed to determine whether the PainVision™ system is also effective in measuring pain caused by the removal of wound dressing materials in actual wounds.