Strawberry mark (hemangioma) in baby: Should I have it removed? Any experience?

[JJsandcat]

My DD (9mths) has a strawberry mark on the side of her back. It's lumpy and bright red though small and only about 6mm wide. It's raised and has grown a bit since birth.

My DH is all for lasering it now so she will not remember it later. He doesn't want her to undergo the OP when she's bigger or feel self-conscious about it when she is a teenager.

I do see his point but I think it's a special mark she has and it's only visible when swimming or later with a low cut back. I think it's a good indentification mark and I'd rather have that than a scar.

Have any of your DC had this? How did you deal with it? What can be done and how was recovery? Do your DC remember? Or did you leave it and did they want to remove it later? Thanks for your advice!

[littleboyblue]

Hi. My ds1 had a really bad one on his forehead. It was very raised and bright red, quite big too. It used to burst in the night and I'd get up and his whole face would be covered in blood. I have a picture, but not on a format I can post. It was really the most distressing thing. He is now 2 and it is barely noticeable. We saw a paed about it because it burst 3 times in 8 days when he was 3 months and I was concerned about the amount of blood loss and I was told that these things disappear by the time the child reaches 5.
Like I said, you wouldn't notice ds1's unless you knew it was there. You might be able to see it on a pic in my profile

[littleboyblue]

Where is my profile?......hold on

[ApplesinmyPocket]

My DD had one of these , on her left shoulder (just above her shoulderblade but below T-shirt line. I don't think she had it at birth, oddly enough (but she was very premature) - and it did grow with her for a few years. It was unsightly but to be honest it never bothered her, I suppose it might have done when she hit the teenage years - but the good news is, it vanished entirely and there is no sign of it now I'm very pleased I didn't have anything done about it.

Strawberry Marks

"The birthmark may continue to grow for the first 3 to 6 months and sometimes for longer. Then they slowly shrink.

In 30% of children the birthmark will fade by the third birthday and by the fifth birthday in 50%. By the seventh birthday 70% will have faded and more than 90% disappear by age nine."

[littleboyblue]

My ds1 wasn't born with his. It first appeared at about 3 weeks as what looked like a scratch but then grew

[JJsandcat]

LBB, how very distressing for you & your little boy. I didn't know they would disappear.

Thank you for the link, very insightful, must read through it & show it to DH.

Well, I definitely don't want her to undergo any operation if the chances are it'll disappear by itself.

Hers is not in the way and doesn't lose blood, she's unaware of it and so it's probably best left alone. Many thanks for your guidance.

[LouLovesAeroplaneJelly]

My sister, brother, niece and I all had in the same spot on the same shoulder. Nothing was done they all disappeared by the time we were about 8. My cousin had one on her back and it was gone by the time she was ten.
If it does not hurt her or is not causing her pain then is there any point to have it surgically removed?

[licquorice]

Definately do not remove. Scar from laser will be more than scar once faded. DS has very faint moark now, can hardly notice

[GumsNRoses]

Dd had one on her forehead, very raised and bumpy, we were told it would fade away and it did, no sign of it at all, so I wouldn't even think about laser treatment.

[ProfYaffle]

My dd2 has 2, one on each side of her waist. She's 2.5 now and they've faded a lot but are still visible. I never considered lasering them.

[craftynclothy]

I have one. It gradually got lighter and lighter and now you can't see it...I can but only cos I know where it was and the skin is slightly looser than average there. I can't say I ever felt self-conscious of it (and I was pretty shy!)

[nappyaddict]

I wouldn't. They usually fade to almost nothing by the time they are 7.

[Pinkjenny]

My dd has one on the side of her leg. It's mainly flat unless she is unwell or has a temp and then it goes bright red and lumpy! Tis very odd.

Never occured to me to have it removed, I assume it will just fade over time. She's 2 btw.

[mrsflowerpot]

DS had one on the side of his face, just by his ear. It was about an inch long oval shape. When he was tiny it used to scab and bleed a bit, we just had to keep bathing it when that happened, then it flattened out to be a red mark for a couple of years and then faded until it was nearly unnoticeable by the time he started school. He's 8 now and there is the very very faintest shadow where it was - but you have to know it was there and really really look for it.

[maxmissie]

my dd had one on her foot when she was born. it never bled or burst but has now pretty much disappeared (she's now 2) and you would only know something had been there if you knew the birthmark was there in the first place. It was in a place where you really wouldn't have noticed it and as we were told it was likely it would eventually disappear we just left it.

[Seeline]

I agree with previous posts. My DD developed one within days of her birth on her arm (I even accused DS of biting her at first because it appeared very gradually ). She became aware of it at about 2, and I was a bit concerned that she would get a complex, but she is virtually 5 now and you can barely see it at all. I think it is only because I know where it was that I am aware - no one else would notice it. Leave it alone.

[JJsandcat]

How funny LLAJ, at least you'll always know they're family :-)

I was even hesitant to remove it before I knew it would fade. Now I'm definitely going to stand my ground. My DD also has a faint mongolian blue spot, btw. I am not bothered about it but my husband is worried it might affect her later.

PJ, I haven't noticed any changes in DD's mark. It's really quite small, but I'll keep an eye on it for any increase or complications. It's really interesting what you guys tell me, I didn't know any of this.

Agree liquorice, a laser scar will be worse than a little mark. You're probably right SSS, thank you for your insight. My your DD is quite a looker, check out those soulful eyes! Agree with the mark, it's in a very delicate place. I hope the OP will go well.

Thank you all for sharing your stories with me, I appreciate that.

[KittyWalker]

DD was born with a large at the base o her back. She is now 6 and it has virtually all gone.

[GeorgeTheSlitheen]

Dd has 2, one on her wrist and one one her lip. We've had them both removed as she's almost 5 now and they had not changes for years. Our pead said that because of where the one on her lip was it had stretched the skin so she had it tidied up, it's still not perfect abs probably never will be. She'll have more surgery if she wants it when she's older, I wouldn't put her through it again. They removed the one on her wrist almost completly but she does have a scar.

We were told that they wouldn't remove them unless absolutly necessary so they might not do your Dd s anyway as it's in such an inconspicuous place.

You will probably find it starts going away on it's own anyway. My ds has got one on his leg and he's 6 months now and it's shrinking already

[JJsandcat]

Thanks for the reassurance Kitty.

GTS, I'll be keeping an eye out for its development. I guess if a mark has to be removed it should be done early, just like you did, so your DD will not remember it later.

[MumofJTM]

I had one that covered the entire right side of my face, down my neck and up into my hair line. Gruesome in the baby pics, I can tell you! It faded considerably in the first few years of my life, and I had laser treatment when I was 16 to tidy up some more obvious patches that hadn't faded and i was self consious about. The laser didn't leave a scar, but was pretty painful, though I think they do it under General Anaesthetic for smaller ones, and do the whole lot at once. I am 34 now, and there are very few marks on the skin from the original mark. I would say leave it, and then if your LO needs treatment down the line you can assess that as time goes on. My parents were advised not to use laser when I was small as the technology is constantly developing, but this was in the 70s, so maybe not relevant, but in a few years time the laser options may have improved further. Monitor and wait, I'd say!

[Duggie]

my son had one on his wrist and it had totally disappeared by the time he was about 2 and a half. You cant see any evidence of it now

[Greensleeves]

My ds2 had a large on on his face

we initially thought we would be able to have it removed but after lots of consultation we found that the party line was to leave it to involute on its own as long as it wasn't "impairing function".

I wasn't chuffed with this for a number of reasons but it did involute - not completely but it's nothing like ots original self.

Pictures of it as ababy and as a 3yo on my profile if you're interested - that is what happened to it when left alone, without any intervention at all.

[lucykate]

dd had one when she was born, on one side of her torso. it grew from 2x2cm size to 2x4cm size. was bright red when she was little but faded considerably. it is now more or less skin coloured. it's still a little bumpy but can barely be seen. dd doesn't even realise it's there. it has never occurred to me to have it surgically removed. i would be quite worried about scarring it may leave, i had a cyst removed from my breast years ago and have had to have lots of treatment on it as the scar turned into a keloid.