When is a Birthmark Cause for Concern?

Half of my kids have hemangiomas, but they're all small. It was a little worrisome as they were in their growing stages, but it was obvious that they were stopping their growth.

With my first hemangioma (2nd child, 12 years ago), I thought it was a scratch at the edge of his eyebrow. When it didn't go away, I had it checked and that's when I first heard the term. I hit the internet to learn more about them. His grew to about pea-sized and the poor kid was constantly being asked if he bumped into something. I would answer, very gravely, "It's a cavernous capillary hemangioma." Then smile and say, "But you can call it a strawberry birthmark." Because of it's location, one doctor was concerned that it might go through the skull bones (having formed before the bones fully joined), so he ordered an MRA to check it out. I did it, but in the future, I'd refrain from sedation and testing on a little baby for a 'just in case' scenario..

I didn't check your link, but Reader's Digest had a story on a little girl whose hemangioma grew out of control. It would have killed her, but they were able to operate. The mom is now online with a blog, but her blog is about normal life, not the hemangioma. The girl had a unique name, which is how I connected the story and the blog.

On the face, I'd let a hemangioma get a little bigger than a quarter and then I'd find me a doctor willing to stay on top of it. I do believe that you can stop them before they get out of hand, but the advice parents receive is, "Oh, it's just a hemangioma. Lots of kids get them. They grow bigger for a few years and then they shrink. Nothing to worry about." Once you've been told not to worry about something, you doubt yourself when you *do* start to worry, so you put off talking to the doctor. The doctor then takes a wait and see approach and then it can be too late for a simple fix. I say get the doctor worried shortly after Mom gets worried.

My son's left a little dimple because the skin stretched to accomodate the blood vessels.

We call them 'angel kisses'. My other three ask why the angel didn't kiss them. I tell them that the angel gave them a kick in the rear, instead!

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My son had a hemangioma that got to about the size of a nickel. It started as a small red mark when he was about 2 weeks old and continued to grow on his forehead. At first we were concerned for him, but the doctor predicted it would most likely grow to the size of a quarter and then start to disappear. It did. He is almost six and it has faded and shrunk. It is now just a bit of raised skin that is the same color as the rest of his face.
Of course, each hemangioma is different. We didn't need to consider surgery, but for some it is necessary. I wouldn't want to question another parent's judgement for their own child.

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I have a hemangioma in my face. It's inside my cheek. It would frequently swell, and there was some pain with it. I've had it since I was a toddler. I saw a few doctor's as a child, and even went to the Children's Hospital in Philly. My parents opted to wait rather than have surgery because I was scared and they just didn't know what to do. But I spent my childhood/teen years hearing people say, Oh you'd be so pretty if you didn't have that thing in your face! Gee thanks. And overhearing people say, Omigod! What's wrong with her face! I understood their curiosity, but it was hurtful. A few days after I graduated high school I had surgery on it. The surgery was very painful, but so worth it to me. I expected men to be nicer to me but was surprised to find women were nicer to me as well. I no longer woke up with pain in my face for about an hour or so each day. I didn't have to worry about people staring at me and wondering what was wrong with me. I was warned it might grow back in about 10 years. Much to my dismay it did grow back a little within two years, but nowhere near the size it originally was. It has stayed at that level. It still swells, usually when I"m stressed. There's occasional very minor pain. It wasn't fun growing up with it. My bones in my face developed around it. Some people would know me for years without noticing, but most noticed right away. I hated having attention called to me. It definitely affected my personality. Just my story.

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My daughter had one on her eyelid, it was putting pressure on her eye and it was preventing her from fully opening her eye up. She wore an eyepatch (on her good eye) for 8 months until we had it surgically removed. As it was explained to us, it could have blinded her in that eye, so we don't feel that our surgery was about how she looked (although by the time of surgery it was hardly noticeable). Our insurance covered it 100%, thank goodness!

When it was most noticeable, I personally wanted people to ask about it. i felt better getting questions about it then wondering if people were thinking she was ugly!

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While most birth marks are likely nothing to worry about, I think that most parents would seek options if their child was born with a mark that is noticable enough to effect how people interact with their child, such as, a large mark on the face. Would you want to live your childhood wearing something that might noticably effect your sense of self and how others perceive you? Probably not. it is an entirely different matter if the birthmark is in an area that is covered by clothing, in which case, waiting for the child to be old enough to voice their opinion would be much more reasonable in many situations.

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I was born with a bright red birthmark slightly larger than a pencil eraser or tic-tac on my right cheek. While not the worst type of birthmark out there it was large enough and bright enough that it can not be covered with makeup and it served as a fuel for merciless teasing throughout my youth. Now in my thirty's I can happily say that I barely notice it and neither does anyone else. It helped build my character as well as define my personal standards of beauty. Once I came to appreciate the uniqueness of it, it stopped hampering my dating life. I work steadily as an actor. My face is part of my trade and my birthmark has never affected my ability to get work. If my family had worried about teasing and had my birthmark removed on one of the many times in my childhood that I begged, I would not have grown into the woman I am today. I like the woman I am today and Iike my birthmark :)

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