does anyones baby have a birthmark?

Question

my daughter has a hemangioma, it is above her ear and went from tiny dots at birth to quarter sized and raised at 4 months. We have a sprcialist appt sept 6th, just wondering if anyone knows how much it will grow between now and then, and what the treatment would be

Answer 1

Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine how much it will grow. Hemangiomas typically stop growing by 12 to 18 months of age, and may stop sooner than that. The very rapid growth often takes place in the first 6 months.

By the time you see the specialist, it may have stopped growing (or be growing very slowly), so treatment such as oral steroids or a steroid injection would probably not be an option (steroids are only effective during the growth phase). Laser can be effective for the superficial portion, but will not do anything for deeper portions (if there are any). However, it sounds as if the hemangioma is not causing any issues, so the "wait and see" approach that most doctors seem to favor might be the best way to go.

Hemangiomas are common, and many do involute with good result. With my youngest however, we opted to have her hemangiomas surgically removed, as the larger one just below the eye could potentially cause vision issues, and we were told early on that she would require plastic surgery to correct the facial deformity caused by the hemangioma. Many surgeons won't touch hemangiomas until the child is 3 or 4 (and involution has begun) as they are afraid of the bleeding that will occur when cutting into something so vascular.

My youngest was on oral steroids from 2 months to 5 1/2 months of age, had an injection at 7 1/2 months, surgery at 11 months, and a second surgery (scar revision) at 2 1/2 years. She probably could still use some laser, but looks much better than before. The one below her eye grew from a small discolored patch at birth to a 2 inch diameter mark, protruding an inch from her face at 2 months of age.

If it does start growing significantly, keep bugging the specialist until they agree to see you sooner. Also, check out both dermatologists and plastic surgeons - www.birthmark.org (Vascular Birthmark Foundation) has doctors listed by state, and is a good site for information on vascular birthmarks.

Answer 2

Hemangiomas generally grow/expand until about 2-3 years of age, then they start involuting - getting smaller and paler.

There is treatment - generally laser sclerosis or injections. Those are usually saved for hemangiomas that are going to cause problems if they grow - one that would cover an eye or block off the mouth/throat. If you do the treatment early, it apparently leaves a bigger scar.

There are some medical conditions that involve multiple hemangiomas, but it sounds like your daughter only has the one, so it is unlikely that she'd have anything like that.

Answer 3

My last daughter has the same thing but it's on the back of her head at the edge of her hair line by her neck. It's not that big but about the size of a quarter, maybe a little bigger. 2 doctors that I saw both told me that it should go away on it's own between 1-5 years. My daughters was also like yours, tiny dots, then it grew and started rising. Her dr is monitoring it but like i said, I was told not to worry about it because they are pretty normal and should go away. They said that if it all of a sudden starts rapidly spreading then it would be cause for concern but since it's still maintaining the same shape it should be ok. She's almost 13 months now and she's never been to a specialist for it because it isn't something that absolutely HAS to be removed. All the dr's i talked to said it should go away on it's own. Her's hasn't grown much since she was about 6 months old and for the past 4 months it's remained the same size. It sounds just like my daughters and you are probably wasting your time with the specialist. They will probably just want to surgically remove it if they do anything to it. My doctor told me that that's what would need to be done if it never went away or if it kept growing. But they are confident that it will go away and it's not that noticeable anyways and it's not hurting her so I'm not too worried about it right now. If you have any other questions feel free to email me. Good luck

Answer 4

My son was born with a birthmarck that goes from the bottom of his foot, up the inner calf, almost to his knee. When he was born, the pediatrition on call at the hospital wanted to know "who had bruised this baby's leg like this" It was very reddish/purple for about the first year. He is 5 now and unless you know it is there, most days you can not see it. It is all splotchy and just a little more pinkish than his skin tone. It does however show up when he is really hot or really cold. Our pediatrition kept an eye on it for the first couple of years, just to make sure it was not growing. I hope your dr appt goes well and your daugher will not need any treatment, that it goes away on it's own.

Answer 5

I knew a friend whose little sister was born with that but it was on her forehead. She had it until she was around 8 years old then they had it removed. You can't even tell it was there now... the girl is 17 years old now. I am unsure why they waited till she was 8, maybe money was an issue or they thought they would wait until she was ready to have it removed. No one made fun of her. So removing it sooner for that reason wasn't an issue. This girls grew to a size of a quarter and was very raised.

Answer 6

When our son was born last June, we noticed he had a small round "patch" on his left ear, which at first we assumed he was sleeping on his ear and his ear was bending, causing the reddness. Our doctor informed us that it is his birthmark. He is 11 1/2 months old now and it has went from the size of an adults pinky finger nail, to the size of a paper clip. We notice that it darkens at certain times.

Answer 7

I was born with a birthmark on the back of my leg that looks like poison oak. It was all over my leg when I was born and it is prominent as ever. I wish I had better news for you. Everyone has something that they don't like on there body. I hope your kid doesn't have a problem with their birthmark. Maybe it can be covered with long hair or makeup. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Answer 8

YES...he is ten now, but when he was a baby he had a strawberry on his forehead and it was huge. As he got older it got smaller and I just noticed yesterday that it was small and moved further back on his head. We cut his hair really short and you could see it, but it was not as noticable as it was when he was a baby.

Answer 9

my daughter has one on her back, its a little smaller than a dime. my doctor told me that it would get bigger but in most cases by the time they turn nine they involute (go away) he said some people try to get them removed but its better to just wait and let them go away to prevent scarring.