Strawberry Mark/Haemangioma - Maintenance DO NOT JUST IGNORE IT

[wokeupandsmeltthecoffee]

I just wanted to write a very short topic to highlight the above.

My 6 month old daughter is currently under Great Ormond Street Hospital to treat her ulcerated haemangioma.

She has had hers on her thigh since birth and I was told by a couple of GPs to just leave it and it will dissapear which is generally the case BUT noone told me that the skin on this mark is VERY fragile and can become dry and ulcerated unless kept moist. PLEASE PLEASE just smear a little vaseline over the mark daily if your child has one. This will help prevent ulceration and will prevent you having to dress a rather sore ulcer on your beautiful baby and it is such a simple thing to do. If you do see any change it the appearance (drying flaky) then contact your GP and do not take no for an answer. I just trusted them, god knows what would have happened if I had not done my own research and found the wonderful staff at GOSH.

I have been dressing her mark now for over 3 weeks and it is healing but she is constantly grabbing at it and I have to dress her in leggings in this hot weather.

I know that this is a mild condition in comparison to many of the terrible illnesses our little ones have but I just wanted to write this as it may have prevented my daughter's pain.

Sorry to hear your daughter has suffered an ulceration but glad she is on the mend.

My son developed a large one on his face/eye which was very scary and I soon discovered that GPs know nothing about them. I did my own research on the Internet and had no less than 5 appointments with GP (different doctors) who told me it was nothing/would go away etc but no other advice.

I contacted a lovely doctor at saving faces who got me a referral straight away and my son was put on propranolol for a year. If he hadn't had this he would have lost the sight in his eye. :( you will get great care at GOSH and well done for not taking no as an answer. You are absolutely right about the dry skin - I accidentally rubbed some of it off and made my son's haemangioma bleed but as soon as I knew Vaseline would help I put it on religiously!

Unfortunately because my son's referral came late on some of the blood capillaries won't shrink down and he has to have laser surgery to get rid of it completely but it is so much better now!

Wishing you and your daughter all the best x

Thanks for the advice. I'll start doing this to DD's.
She has two on her shoulder which haven't reduced in size yet (she's 3yo).
All I've ever been told is leave it and it 'should' disappear.
It did flake a bit when she was younger, the skin over it does seem very thin.

we were told by our gp & by his consultant paed (he has other conditions) just to leave it.
DS2's was on top of his head, it started bleeding, became very painful, infected & in the end was extremely painful. I took him back to the gp as it was constantly bleeding & it sort if burst in front of the GP.
He was immediatly admitted to hospital & on IV antibiotics with painful daily wound cleaning.

In most cases they do go away BUT parents should be made aware of the possible complications & how to reduce the risk.
I hope your dd feels better soon.

I was born with one in the middle of my forehead. I am 41 this year and my mum was told that it would disappear by about 7. I still have it now although paler than it was at birth. Years ago they used to scoop them out and it would leave a dent or hole with stitches. Nowadays i think they laser them. Mine never went nasty though so i feel sorry for your dd op and hope better quickly. x x.

Thanks all. It is so frustrating that GPs just say it'll go especially when young to see them as it has changed in appearance. I was so upset and felt that I.had really let my daughter down.

She is on the mend now but I really did just want to write this in hope that it may help another.

heartbeep just a little vaseline each day would probably have helped my dd. I hope it helps yours :)

I hope your daughter heals soon. Haemangiomas have loads of blood vessels in them which is why they can bleed so profusely.

DD had one on her back and one on one of her vocal cords. It completely occluded her airway and she had to have a tracheostomy for over three years. The policy is usually to leave them alone as they resolve themselves and it is the least risky option. Fortunately it has now disappeared completely and DD is a nose breather again.