Treatment of infantile hemangioma strawberry birthmark

[Takemetothemoon1]

Hi I’m looking to see if anyone has had an infantile hemangioma (strawberry birthmark) treated privately.

My son is 6 and a half weeks now and has a rapidly growing one on his head just in his hairline, it’s been growing at a tremendous rate since he was 3 to 4 weeks.
It won’t be treated on the nhs as it’s not affecting eyes lips or nose etc.
My GP said this would be something I would have to have treated privately.

I was wondering if anyone has had this done around south/mid wales or even England?
Ive contacted private hospitals around my area and they all seem to only treat adults.

I’m very worried about it being a hindrance to him physically being knocked, scratched, ulcerating or wearing a helmet in the future,
also cosmetically being pointed out by other children and having his confidence knocked at a young age.

thank you for any advice

My daughter had one on her leg that grew after her birth. We were advised that they spontaneously shrink and fade after a few months - which it did. She has no scarring or marks now. Were you advised to get treatment?

My dd had one treated on the NHS. Is treatment available privately? I can’t imagine that the benefit would outweigh the risk, particularly as they have normally reduced/gone by school age anyway. DD’s was treated with propranolol and she needed to be admitted to hospital to start the medication. In her case it was worth the hassle as the haemangioma was affecting her vision.

Is this more about you struggling with its appearance or worrying about things that might never happen?

My son had one - admittedly slightly different as on his stomach - but I didn't even think about getting it removed as they told us it would evently break up and disappear. It did take until he was about 12 to breakdown though and the ‘mark’ is still there if you know to look for it.. Is there a reason why you wouldn’t want it to be bumped etc? My sons wasn’t delicate or senstive.

My DD had two, a very large one on her thigh and one on her shoulder. They grew for the first few years, but then they sort of slowly deflated as she got older to the point that they were barely visible.

It’s a hard decision though for you, given where it is and I can understand your worries.

My understanding is they can grow up to the child is 1 then they shrink/fade. My son’s grew up until about 4 months and now at 10 months you can barely see it.