Hemangioma Birth Mark on Top of Baby's Head?? What Would You Do?

Please, please, please make sure this is what you think it is. Get a second or third opinion immediatly. It may be Phace syndrome. My girlfriends granddaughter has it and it can be very serious, not just superficial.

I have a friend whose daughter has a similar condition. She is now 12 months old. They let it go at first (what I would recommend). If it starts to cause probems FOR YOUR CHILD, then you may want to consider steroids. The steroids helped her daughter trmendously. But her hemangioma was in the genital area. I have known several others (niece, and friends) who had them on their faces and they just grew out of them. They get big at first but shrink with time. I peronally would wait it out. Don't let something so superficial dictate surgery. Wait until your child is older. Children this young don't care about that stuff and they aren't attached to a mirror the way adults are.

My oldest daughter had a dime sized mark on her head behind her ear. It was raised and red and purple...the doctor was never concerned about it, but of course as a new mom I was. It eventually faded and got flat. Now it's just a flat red mark on her head...conveniently hidden in her hair. It doesn't sound like it's a cosmetic problem for later in life. I would just let it be unless there is some health risk involved to leaving it alone. It sounds like you are well aware of the risks of the treatments, I think those consequences far outweigh a little red mark that will probably be hidden in his hair anyway, if not disappear altogether.

Please M., don't do anything to it. My son had one at birth until he about 4 or 5 years old on his back. It's completely gone. I had several pediatricians checking it out & they said the same thing, it will go away on it's own. If you mess with it, that's when it could turn into something else. I think we have similar ideas as to natural, organic, holistic type ideas & I wouldn't be doing anything to it.
K.

Hi M.,
My advice to you would be to leave it. These do go away on their own. Even if it gets very large, it is on the top of his head and will get covered with hair. Eventually it will start to go away on its own. My daughter (14 months) has multiple hemangiomas. The peds dermatologist wanted to freeze them to prevent them from growing, but I didn't want to put her through the pain, especially since these are not dangerous and do go away. Both surgery and steroids (especially) run very high risks especially in little babies. Hope this helps!

Hi M.,

I agree with the others. My daughter has one on her belly. It got really red and purple and was raised. Now, she's almost 4 and it is flat and considerably lighter. I'm sure that it will almost all fade. They do get worse before they get better, but really do start to correct themselves.

Know all about it. My daughter (now 15 months) had one on her back right above the diaper. My family was the same way your husband is. My husband and I were okay like you with it. Guess what.........my daughters is almost invisible. It's no longer red, no longer raised, and looks like a faded pink lipstick mark or something. That's the best wat to describe it I guess. My doctor was right... it will go away. As a matter of fact, today was her 15 month check up and he always looks at it when were there, and he said that it should be gone soon. He really did. So, no worries and defiantly no surgery. Even if they are in to different regions of the body, who cares, they will go away. Take care

My daughter had three of these...one was on her head and a large one was on her back. She is a teenager now - but eventually, the one on her head was covered with hair and then went away. However, the large one on her back did not go away and we did go to a cosmetic dermatologist when she was 10 to have it "removed". Actually it was three laser treatments - he did not recommend surgical removal because they will bleed. After the laser treatments, it did fade. I would recommend waiting, though, at least until 10 to see if they go away on their own.

My child did not have one, but my brother did. He had quite a large one (about the size of a silver dollar) on his back. It eventually went away; I believe he was about four. My parents did nothing to it, but let it run its course.

M.,

My cousins daughter was born with one large one on her head, her chin and her back. They consulted several pediatricians and talked to the best doctor in the state regarding these. He said leave them. Surgery is risky because of blood loss.
Emma is now a beautiful 5 year old. The one on her head is almost flat (and it was really large). The one on the neck and chin are barely visable.

Please wait. Tell your husband that this is not uncommon. We as adults are more upset with the apperance than the child. He will be fine, trust me.

Good luck.

My son has this on his head also. His ped. told us not to do anything about it because it shouldn't become a problem and will most likely go away. I have noticed it already getting smaller and he is only 8 months old. I would just let it be...once his hair starts growing in you won't even notice it. I wouldn't want to put a baby through steroids or surgery unless it was absolutley necessary.

H.