The red mark on Nathaniel's forehead is a hemangioma. Its kind of like a birth mark only it didn't appear until he was 5 weeks old and should go away before he is 10. When we first noticed it, it looked like a very small scratch on his head. Over time it grew and is now much bigger, more red and raised like a bruise. A hemangioma is a benign tumor of the cells that line the blood vessels. It usually shows up during the first few weeks of life and will have resolved no later than age 10. About 1/2 disappear by age 4 or 5 (I'm hoping his is gone before elementary school). Hemangiomas are connected to the circulatory system and filled with blood. I know it can be seen in the pictures I post so I thought I would blog about it. It looks kind of like a small strawberry on his head. It doesn't seem to bother Nathaniel at all and other than it being cosmetic I am told it won't hurt anything. We are going to ask to see a specialist next time we visit the pediatricians office. Since it is on his head and connected to the circulatory system I am concerned that once he becomes mobile it may bleed every time he bumps his head - we know boys bump their heads all the time! Most of the time parents are told to leave them alone and let them go away on their own. However, my research on the internet (I know you have to be careful of this), tells me that we may have options of having it removed. In some cases they can laser them off. I want to explore all our options so if he doesn't have to live with it we take care of it early. If any of you have any experience with hemangiomas please let me know. I personally don't know of any other kids with them so am just looking for information.
1 comment:
Zachary has one on his back. It started out as a little speck and as he got bigger, it got bigger. Our docs told us it should start to shrink and be flat by age 2 (I hope they are right). I can already tell Zachary's has started to shrink. The color of it will turn greyish/white. Let me know what your specialist says.
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