Should i be concerned about dd3's growing strawberry birthmark?

oliviaelanasmum · 2008-01-06T21:55:20+00:00

Hi my dd3 was born with a white patch of skin on her stomach which looked as if it had no pigment, this darkened over the next few days into a strawberry birthmark. She is now 15 weeks and it has grown more prominent in the last few days and it has a hrd lump underneath it. Im unsure if this is normal and should i take her to the doctors or h.v? Any advice would be appreciated

Nemoandthefishes · 06/01/2008 21:58

my dd1 has a prominent strawberry birth mark on her back. She is just 2 and it stopped groing about 2/3mths ago. I think just getting hv or gp to check it whenever you are there for something else is ok. If it starts to bleed etc then it will need to be checked out asap.I was told it would stop growing around 12-18mths and then apparently at some point it will reduce in size until it is just a brown patch.

mollythetortoise · 06/01/2008 21:58

i would get this checked out. My friends ds has this type of birth mark on his face . it did get bigger and then shrunk again. he is now four and is much smaller than it was. It's prob normal but no harm in getting a doctors opinion.

Original poster

oliviaelanasmum · 06/01/2008 22:01

Thanks, i think i will take her tommorow as i live next door to the doctors, it has been growing since she was born but has always been soft, so the lump worried me a bit

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lilolilmanchester · 06/01/2008 22:23

My DD had similar on her back. Took her to GP who panicked and referred me urgently to specialist who said it was fine. Nonetheless he did an x-ray to ensure it wasn't interfering with her spine, which it wasn't. So, almost certainly nothing to worry about but would get GP to have a look anyway. Don't panic if GP refers you onwards either.

lilolilmanchester · 06/01/2008 22:23

My DD had similar on her back. Took her to GP who panicked and referred me urgently to specialist who said it was fine. Nonetheless he did an x-ray to ensure it wasn't interfering with her spine, which it wasn't. So, almost certainly nothing to worry about but would get GP to have a look anyway. Don't panic if GP refers you onwards either.

lilolilmanchester · 06/01/2008 22:23

My DD had similar on her back. Took her to GP who panicked and referred me urgently to specialist who said it was fine. Nonetheless he did an x-ray to ensure it wasn't interfering with her spine, which it wasn't. So, almost certainly nothing to worry about but would get GP to have a look anyway. Don't panic if GP refers you onwards either.

Original poster

oliviaelanasmum · 06/01/2008 22:26

My h.v made a note of it in her red book and said she will keep an eye on her as her neck and head are covered in mottled birthmark/storkbites, in my eyes she is perfect tho

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lilolilmanchester · 06/01/2008 22:30

not sure why you got 3 copies of my response! Sorry!

critterjitter · 06/01/2008 22:34

Is this a strawberry nevus (strawberry coloured lump)?

Original poster

oliviaelanasmum · 07/01/2008 07:28

Yes it is

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AbbeyA · 07/01/2008 07:32

My DS had a small one on his back, the doctor said it would disappear by the age of 2 and it did. However best to get it checked out.

nappyaddict · 07/01/2008 07:42

they get bigger and bigger up until about age 4 then they start getting smaller again.

katylessbumpy · 07/01/2008 07:47

my dds has been growing since birth.it has in the last couple of weeks begun to lighten and shrink slightly.she is 8 months.she also has a small one on her back.pics on profile
her has bled once but stopped pretty quickly but i did get it checked just in case

Original poster

oliviaelanasmum · 07/01/2008 10:34

Maisy-Rae's birthmark This is when it when it was smaller and lighter.
Katylessbumpy i love your daughters name!!

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zebedee1 · 07/01/2008 12:55

Hi oliviaelanasmum, DS is 8 months old and has a strawberry mark on his forehead. Spookily, it looks exactly like Katylessbumpy's little girl's mark! BTW I agree that Melody Rae is a gorgeous name and she is a beautiful little girl, love her pics!

I saw my Gp about DS's mark and spoke to a paediatric Dr at hospital about it a month ago when DS was referred to have his tongue tie cut. Both said the same - it will grow rapidly to a raised red mark then growth will slow and stop. The mark will slowly disappear by flattening and turning white in patches till it is completely gone. Dr said that approx 50% completely disappear by age 5 and the rest by age 10 although you will see fading before then. Hospital Dr said that very very rarely the mark does not disappear and in that case they would laser it off. Would also laser it if near the eye/ bottom/ mouth and threatening to interfere with function. Normally Dr would not laser the mark though as it leaves scarring whereas leaving the mark to fade naturally does not leave a mark.

DS's mark grew rapidly between about 3 and 5 months but seems to have slowed down a bit recently. Loads of parents have come up to me when we're out to tell me how their DC's strawberries have disappeared, most seem to have started to fade around 2-3 years old.

I woukld advise speaking to your GP just to put your mind at rest.

katylessbumpy · 07/01/2008 14:15

thanks for saying melody is beautiful.i don't mean to boast but she won a local heat of a modelling competition a couple of weeks ago! it was great that they saw past her birthmark.i cried when i found out
zebedee1,was your ds strawberry visible when he was born?

zebedee1 · 07/01/2008 14:33

Well done Melody! She is a real cutie so I'm not surprised she won. When DS was born he didn't have the strawberry, he just had a very faint small pink-ish mark where the strawberry now is. I assumd it was just a mark from being born or one of those stork mark things cos he had some stork marks on his neck. The strawberry did not really appear as small red spots till he was about 4-6 weeks old.

katylessbumpy · 07/01/2008 14:39

snap! i was told that it was a pressure mark and would fade.i thought i'd had to many sleepless nights and was seeing things when it turned cerise pink and went lumpy
she also has a small one on her back.

fordfiesta · 07/01/2008 14:45

ds was born with a huge hemangioma (inside out strawberry birth mark.... kind of) on his forearm. we were immediately ref to a consultant but only because of its size. Whilst it continued to grow for first six months (he looked like popeye!) at the age of 2.5 it has now lost all of it's bulk and is begining to fade. Worth going to docs just so they can monitor it, think they worry most when they grow near the eyes and nose or some where that it will effect normal development.

Original poster

oliviaelanasmum · 07/01/2008 16:23

Just got back from doctors, it is a fatty pad underneath the skin which is pushing it out, they want to keep an eye on it and if it gets bigger she may have to have a spot of lipo on it.
Other than that she is fine, so my mind is at ease

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katylessbumpy · 07/01/2008 16:29

thats great news, glad it's ok{smile]

zebedee1 · 07/01/2008 19:36

That's good news Oliviaelanasmum, can I come along for some lipo if there's any on offer
Glad all is well and you are at ease.

critterjitter · 08/01/2008 00:00

The Strawberry Nevus will go at about 7 years old. We were initally told 2/3/4 years by different HVs and GPs. Then saw a Consultant who said 7. They fade from about 2 years onwards and seem to 'go down.' They end up looking like a very faint burn mark under the hair (very light brown colour). I only know this because I bumped into someone with one in a shop (when she saw my DD) who showed me what hers looked like now she was an adult.

summer111 · 08/01/2008 19:48

A few weeks after birth, dd developed a strawberry mark on her back, over her shoulder blade. Like your dd, it got darker and raised with a fatty deposit underneath. It then began to fade and got gradually lighter and patchier and I think was normal skin colour by the time she turned 7yrs old. A slight fatty deposit is still there (I think - she's now 11) but it doesn't bother her in the least as she forgets it's there and it isn't visible to the naked eye