Strawberry hemangioma birthmark

[Mmamadness]

Hello all, I'm just looking for general advice/experience regarding birthmarks.

My DD has a strawberry hemangioma birthmark on her head. It wasn't there when she was born; it developed around 2 weeks later.

This worried me like crazy at first but honestly I barely notice it now. I've read online they tend to grow rapidly between age 3-6 months, then the growth slows down and it slowly starts disappearing into a silver mark by age 10.

Does anyone else have experience of this? Her birth mark isn't super big, but it isn't super small, either. It grew most and became very red between 0-3 months but now seems to have plateaued to a stable size, but isn't showing signs of going away just yet.

I love the bones of her and all of her beautiful features, including this, but I'm worried about how other children will treat her growing up and how she will see herself as a result of peer comments. I will of course raise her to know she is beautiful and unique, but I know how much peer influence can shatter self esteem and it breaks my heart to think this could happen. She is currently only 3 months old so very early days yet.

Thanks!

Hello! I myself was born with 2 hemangiomas on my head and have no signs of them now. My son has a big one on his shoulder that grow a lot before 6 months and now is shrinking but still very visible. Our HV suggested to use oral propranolol (betablockers) to shrink it but we decided to opt for the topical cream (it is called timolol..it is a betablocker cream) and we had very good results. We have been told that by 5/7 years old it shouldn't be visible anymore. On fb there is a good page called hemangioma parents support group where you can have all infos.
Anyway don't expect hemangiomas to shrink visibly before the baby reaches 12 months. Most drugs work bests when used early on (before the 1 year mark).

Thanks so much for your response! I really don't want to use any sort of drugs with her, it's not so bad that I feel like she needs it so hopefully it will just clear up by the time she is 7 or so. Reassuring to hear that your own are no longer visible, did you use any medication/ creams on your own birth marks to make them now no longer visible? Thanks :)

No i have no signs of it. And I have a friend with a child of 2 years old that was born with two medium sized hemangiomas and both are visibly shrieked by now (she is 2) without any medications.
Usually the choice if to use medications or not (ectopic or oral) is based on the size or position of the hemangioma and should be discussed with a pediatric dermatologist. For example, big ones like my son's (more than 5x5cm) can have more risks of bleeding or to deform the skin in the affected area during the growth phase ( its not a must, the one of my child never gave us any problems). Hemangiomas close to the eyes, ears, lips or nipples in females are also sometimes treated if they could interfere with the functioning/ growing of the affected area or if they could lead to future aesthetic concerns.

80-90% of the hemangiomas don't need to be treated and will disappear completely without lasting effects by the time the child is 5-7 years old.