Myths and Facts Surrounding Strawberry Hemangioma on Infants

Myths and Facts Surrounding Strawberry Hemangioma on Infants

There are many myths and facts surrounding strawberry hemangiomas on infants but they are commonly known as vascular birthmarks that are usually benign in nature. They are often a very small bright red spot that are usually small, compressible and characterized by well defined borders. They are made up of a dense group of dilated (widened) blood vessels that appear on the skin of infants as a reddish-blue spongy mass.

The myths and facts surrounding strawberry hemangiomas on infants are far ranging in their scope and also in their believability. The truth of the matter is much more realistic:

·         Strawberry Hemangiomas normally occur on the face, chest, back and scalp. 

·         They may be present at the birth of an infant but are more commonly seen during the first or second month. 

·         Approximately 3 percent of children are born with strawberry hemangiomas.

·         Rarely, less than 1% of hemangiomas, can be present on internal organs as the spleen, pancreas or liver and can have life threatening complications. 

·         Most of the time they are only cosmetic and are entirely harmless to your infant.

I am quite sure that the appearance of your baby is quite important to you and the presence of a hemangioma can be sometimes quite distressing. It is unfortunate that there is no way to tell if it will get any larger or not. And, of course, any time that there are unknowns regarding your baby, it may be a cause of stress for you. The facts are that the overwhelming majority of strawberry hemangiomas will have no medical complications at all. Also the odds are in your babies favor that it will fade over time and disappear all together by the time pre-school comes around.

The myths and facts surrounding strawberry hemangiomas on infants suggest that massaging the area will help to get rid of the hemangioma. This is not true, this will not help at all, in fact you could cause internal bleeding of the hemangioma which could cause complications or scarring. At this time there are no known topical medications or creams that are effective in reducing these birthmarks.

If you still have concerns, talk to your pediatrician, have him show you some photographs of strawberry hemangiomas, especially the before and after pictures found in most dermatology text books. Seeing the evidence of these cases will certainly ease your mind. There is nothing like seeing with your own eyes the photos of cases that resolved themselves on their own.