Birth Marks - Remove or Leave Alone

pprendeville

our daughter is 4 months old and was born with this birth mark on her left arm. has anyone had any experience with something like this. just got back from china where everyone was saying to have it removed (by freezing?) but doc here said its ok for now.

Xdancer

A friend of mine was born with a birtmark similar to that on her forehead. As she got older it gradually faded and by the time I met her (1st in secondary school, so about 12 years old) it was practically unnoticeable.

iguana

That looks more like a strawberry mark than a port wine stain. Strawberry marks tend to fade significantly over time, so if that's what it is I'd leave it. Afaik, most surgeons are reluctant to treat them before the age of 10 as the vast majority have faded to insignificance by then. If it's a port wine stain, then that won't fade but will probably get darker and more puckered over the years. In that case you should ask for a surgical consult, perhaps at the laser clinic in St James's Hospital in Dublin. But I really think from looking at the picture that it's a strawberry mark.

Tawneyowl

Hi, my daughter was born with a similar mark on her leg. It was about 4 or 5 cm in size, slightly raised. Very like the one on your babys arm. It slowly faded and by the time she was around four it was completely gone. Docs said it was a strawberry birthmark, usually they are on face or neck. If you rub her skin where it was you might just see a faint mark but only if you knew it was there initially.

bstar

my daughter was born with 5 small birthmarks, 1 on each eye, 1 on her nose, 1 on her crown and a really big one down her neck. The doctor says only to consider doing something if they havent changed by the time she is 2.

I probably wont touch them as you can only see the ones on her face badly if shes crying and worked up. other wise if you didnt know they were there you wouldnt. Probably as they are on her eyelids. If the neck one wasn't going to be covered by her hair when she was older i would consider it.

So I would wait a while yet and see if it settles. even take a picture now and compare it in 6 months so your not going by memory alone.

January

Read the charter, no medical advice.

You consulted your doctor, he said to leave it, why would you not trust his judgement over the words of people on the internet!