What's happened to my strawberry haemangioma?

[Dilbertian]

I have a strawberry haemangioma birthmark on my face. It has been virtually invisible since my teens, just a slightly freckled, slightly raised area.

This afternoon it has suddenly become pink and itchy. Slightly swollen, too, and it feels firmer than usual.

Is this normal with these old birthmarks? What has happened?

Perhaps too much sun but see a doctor.

Likely yet not likely sun. I am very sensitive to the sun, so I wear glasses and a large hat. I have never had a sun reaction around my haemangioma because it is so well screened.

Why doctor? Do old haemangiomas do worrying things?

@Dilbertian I know this is an older post but did you find out the cause?
My seven year old has had a large one grow this year (age 7 years) and now another has appeared yesterday morning and is larger today.

No, I didn't. I put some hydrocortisone on it and it calmed down. But that area on both sides of my face has been going up and down this summer, so I suspect an allergic reaction.

I've not heard of strawberry marks appearing at such a late age. Although the original one hasn't changed, since menopause I have sprouted many more tiny ones, 1-2mm flat ones and 2-4mm bulgy ones. Dermatologist said they were a normal part of aging. I don't think I had any at your dc's age, apart from my large birthmark. I think a GP visit might be appropriate for your dc.

@Dilbertian Thanks for replying - I have visited this morning. Gp said it’s a strawberry nevus. It’s grown more and pictures from last Sunday prove nothing was there at all at the weekend.

I asked ‘have you ever seen these appear on children this age?’ he replied ‘Yes it’s very common for them to appear on older children and even adults’. This is concerning as I cannot find anything about older children on line. I rang a private clinic who also said it’s unusual and a dermatologist (a friend) who said she hasn’t seen this happen.

He did additional checks, weight, stomach etc but said he had no concerns and to watch and wait (and the nhs won’t remove it). I didn’t expect the NHS to remove it - but I am really worried as number one is quite large already.

Is your dc a redhead, by any chance? One of my parents is, and has lots of strawberry naevi. Although I'm brunette, my skin behaves like my redhead parent's skin: sunburn, freckles and strawberry naevi.

Come back to post just in case anyone else has this.

With a bit of luck I managed to get the photo in front of a specialist nurse at a major children’s hospital and it isn’t a strawberry nevus it’s a Pyogenic Granuloma. It can bleed a lot so she advised we may need to remove it.

I have read that salt can shrink it - so I will try that as the medicine given by the doctor is unlikely to work if it’s not flat.

I’m not impressed that the doctor was adamant it was a strawberry nevus even when I questioned it twice. He cannot have seen many appear on children as they don’t appear on 7 year olds 🤷‍♀️.

She isn’t a red head but has very fair skin and blonde hair/green eyes.

I've never heard of these (but then IANAHCP). I've just googled it, and it's unmistakably different to a strawberry naevus!

Not according to my GP who was adamant children grow them ‘regularly’. I am very glad I did my own research and didn’t take his advice. The hospital nurse was speedy thankfully. Luckily the new one has faded now with the Timolol (which he told me not to apply to the new one). The big ones is being salted each day, but I will pay to have it removed if not.