Facial Birthmarks

Hi everyone. One of my twin daughters has 3 birthmarks on her face. 1 at each earlobe (which her hair would probably hide)
and another more prominent one on her chin that extends up to her bottom lip. My pedi here in Canada says I should do nothing until she is 14/15 yrs old when her face is done growing. Everything I read on the Internet says early intervention with laser treatment is a must. I would rather treat it now before she goes to school and save her the stares and endless comments
from kids (which I get now from everyone !) Also, it is a self- esteem issue- I don't want her to be self- conscious about it all the time. I can handle the questions but I don't think she should have to explain about her birth marks every time someone asks. so...........sorry to ramble....my question is..........Does anyone have experience with birthmark removal? How old, procedure, pain involved, results. Any info would be great. Thanks for reading !!

 

What kind of birth marks does she have. My oldest has a strawberry hemangioma near her hair line (between ear and eye) and it has faded over the years. It's still there (she's almost 4) but my ped assured me that most of them are gone at age 5, and if not, they'll laser. But in her case, I wouldn't laser anymore, it's hardly visible with all her hair.

 

Her birthmarks are port wine stains. She is 14 months old....

 

From what I read here:

Port Wine Stain

It seems like they get worst and more difficult to treat as they age. I would take her to a second opinion, perhaps to a dermatologist. In the above article it says the most success in treating them is during infancy.

 

I have a deep brown one in the middle of my forehead. I really doesn't bother me any more but I did get some teasing. It looks like I have the red Hindu dot but brown. I would never mess with mine

 

My daughter has a size of a quarter of wine color "bump" that stick out of her skin under neath her arm. The pedi told us that it should shrink but it seem as it is still there in the same way. We know she'll be asking for us to remove that once she get into swim suit. Should we have this remove while she is still toddler stage w/out remembering the "surgery" or wait until certain age? I will be asking the pedi again at their 18 months check up soon.

Thanks,
Diana w/Rianna and Justin

 

My DD has 3 strawberry hemangiomas, a small one behind her ear, a large one on her shoulder, and one that grew quite large on her forehead. The NICU and pedi kept assuring me the one on her forehead would fade away by the time she was 2. It started out as just a red pin prick and grew a lot and fast.

When she was about 9 months old the one on her should started bleeding/scabbing, so the pedi referred me to a pediatric dermatologist (he's supposed to be the best one in my state). He said he could have stopped the one on her forehead from growing by injecting steroids, but we were too late as it has grown as big as it was going to get. Anyways, the one on her forehead and her shoulder are in areas that would scar, so he recommended not doing surgery and letting them shrink and fade.

That being said, kids ask about it all the time. So I told the doctor I was concerned about her getting picked on at school, and he said that they normally do not get picked on until around 2nd-3rd grade, and he completely expects my DD's hemangiomas to be gone by the time she is 5. They have drastically shrunk and faded in the last year, so I suspect he is completely correct. She started daycare last month and the teacher asked me what that was, knowing the kids would ask about it. She explained it to them and no one has said a thing since. It's not very large anymore though.

I would seek out another opinion from a specialist, if that is possible. My doctor (like I said, supposed to be the best in the state) is a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

 

There is a good chance my daughter may have what you have said "Strawberry Hemangiomas". I'll check w/the pedi and see what she has to say when they go for their 18 months. I know she'll be having a scar but the good news it is under neath her arm.

Thanks for the information!
Diana

 

My friend's daughter has Sturge Webber syndrome--basically 1/2 her face is covered in a port wine stain. She goes every 6 weeks for laser surgery to lighten it--it has worked well. She is now 6 and in K. There was an episode when she had her first surgery after school started where a child got very upset at seeing her--after the surgery, they have round black and blue marks all over the area. But it was handled by the school counselor. All the children, like mine, who have known her since birth don't even notice it.

 

Much less serious, and clearly not as noticeable, but would still like your opinion:

My DD has a dime sized tan mark just under her right eye. It's gotten darker and more raised since it first appeared, when she was about 6 wks old. I really haven't thought about having it removed, it's just part of her, and I think she looks so cute with it.

But do you think kids will start to make fun of her as she gets older? Right now, it's not much darker than peanut butter, but it may possibly get darker and or bigger. Should we look into having it removed? Her doc is not at all concerned about it.

 

I don't have experience in this area but I just wanted to say that you are within your rights to get a second opinion (from another pediatrician) and you can ask for a referral to a dermatologist no matter if your doctor agrees with you or not. My pedi was not concerned about my boys' head shape but I insisted on getting a referral to the ortho clinic at Sick Kids in Toronto. Guess what? Both of my boys needed helmets (spent about 4 months in them). Sometimes you have to follow your instinct.