Hemangioma

Hi K.. I know exactly how you are feeling. My son is now 19 months old and his hemangioma appeared at 2 weeks under his eye. First let me tell you that IT WILL GO AWAY. It stops growing around 8mths to 1year...promise and they do go away. However, if it is a raised one they can be removed and the ONLY dr. you should see who is the absolute expert in this field is Dr. John Reinisch ###-###-#### 250 N. Robertson Suite 506
Beverly hills, Ca 90211. Please feel free to ask me any questions at all. Again, I know how distressing this can be as a new mom but it will all be okay.

Hello K.-
My son had one above his eye that was very red and very noticeable. It started out small and light and continued to grow. We did decide to get it removed when he was 9 months old. He is now 19 months and you can hardly tell it was there and/or see the scar. We also saw Dr. Rienisch (sorry about the spelling). He was fantastic!! It was a difficult decision to make at the time, but one of the best! We are very happy.

They frequently, but not always, go away on their own. Occasionally they need to be removed by a dermatologist. Have you seen a derm or just your pediatrician? If you're worried, I'd suggest seeing a derm. From everything I've heard, hemangiomas are completely harmless.

K.
http://oc.citymommy.com

My daughter had one on her forehead. It was a really difficult decision and we looked into all options and saw many doctors. In the end, we removed it as we were afraid that it would impair her eye development, and also, saw that it could leave a mark even after it was gone with the way it was growing.

Everyone is different, it's best to do your research and then trust your decision.

We found an amazing, compassionate surgeon who came up with a way to minimize the scarring - but, that entailed two surgeries, one at 6 months and one at 16 months.

Let me know if I can help at all.

All the best

My little girl was born with one on the back of her knee. It was VERY light at birth, but by the time she was 3 weeks old ,it was bright red and much bigger then it was when she was first born. It is about 2.5 x 2 inches. She is now 28 months old and I would guess that it has gone away about 75%. The doctor said that it could take up to a year and a half to go away. Obviously it has been MUCH longer then that. Who knows if it will ever go away. Just be prepared that it will be around for a while. I wish you all the happiness in the world!
M.

I would get a second opinion! My niece had one on her upper lip and the doctors kept saying it would go away, which most do. But it kept growing! She ended up having several surgeries and now it is very obvious that there was something there! Its sad!

What you need to do is document how big the hemagioma is now, and next week, and the next. What is it's size now? What is the rate of growth? Take pictures with a ruler beside it. Date the photos! Sometimes you have show doctors that you are not imagining things. If at any time it impairs your baby's vision or gets infected, see the doctor. If you are really concerned, get a second opinion from a specialist like a dermatologist. I hate doctor's that say "He'll grow out of it." I had children that did not grow out of their problems and had to take a proactive stance and insist on seeing a specialist. Do not be afraid to try another doctor. Some doctor's don't listen. Just watch "Mystery Diagnosis" on TLC and you will get very mad at the medical profession for being such idiots.

My daughter had one on her nose. At first, the doctors told us it would go away by the time she was in school. It grew to the size of a gumball and was red/purple. After several visits to the doctor, we found a plastic surgeon who removed it. It had started to cause problems with her facial development. It was a difficult time.

On the other had, my cousin's son had one on his forehead that just disappeared over time.

My advice would be to do what is best for you and your child since each case is unique. Get several opinions from several doctors, if possible. Do research on line to find situations similar to yours. Start talking to people. (We mentioned my daughter's hemangioma to a friend. Her sister-in-law just happened to be a plastic surgeon who just started working in our area with Kaiser. It all came together because we started talking to friends.)

Luck and blessings to you.

Hi K.,

You did not mention your baby's age in your request. My daughter has a hemangioma under her eye. Living with a hemangioma has been a difficult journey because it is in such an obvious location and rude people ask stupid questions and make dumb remarks but based on my research 'most' do go away on their own and any 'intervention' should be medically necessary and well researched. There are treatments - beta blockers and steroids even surgery but all have risks that may outweigh the benefit. I spent a lot of time looking into this, yes, you can get it removed by a surgeon, however, sometimes they grow back or there is significant scarring that would not be there if it was left to resolve on its own! If you child's hemangioma does not cause problems with vision and does not otherwise impair development, or cause disfigurement I would strongly recommend doing your research while taking a 'wait and see' approach. That said, we did take our daughter for a CT scan to check that the one on the surface was the only one and also consulted a dermatologist when an 'ulcer' developed last summer. Now at 19 months it is very obvious that it is getting smaller, turning flesh color and it appears that it will go away. I would be happy to talk with you further about my experience - send me a message and I can provide my email/phone number etc.
I found this website very useful for researching hemangiomas and determining how to adress our situation
http://msnvb.org/index.php

Hope that helps!

Hi, Katherine,

I had a hemangioma on my forehead. Dr. Susan Goodlerner, a dermatologist, removed it. I felt no pain and experienced no scarring. You might consult her or my son's pediatric plastic surgeon, Dr. J. Reinisch, of Cedars-Sinai hospital.

Good luck,
Lynne E

Both of my twins had hemangiomas - my son, several. They go away on their own. They start to fade and eventually disappear by age 2.

have you seen a specialist for it? I would get a 2nd opinion just to be safe. Some of them don't go away and get larger and medication or surgery is needed. Good luck

Hi Katherine,

When my son was 8-weeks old, we noticed a slight blush on his cheek that appeared to be stiff to the touch. I took him to his pediatrician, who referred us to a specialist at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. The doctor we saw there basically told us not to worry about it - let it go away on its own. I was not satisfied with this diagnosis, and so I went to Children's Hospital of Orange County instead. What a difference! There, my son was given a comprehensive exam and we just felt like the doctors there were more sensitive to our concerns and gave us more information. Long story short...he ended up being referred to an ENT, hematologist, ophthalmologist, and laser specialist. By that time, the mass had grown larger, and up into his eye, nearly sealing it shut. A diagnosis of venous malformation and hemangioma were given to us, though I think at this point, it's closer to a hemangioma.

My son is now almost 2 years old, and has throughout the years been put on steroids, propranalol, and had laser treatments and MRI's. The hemangioma is starting to go away, and the treatments he's received have definitely helped.

I'm not sure what the severity of your son's hemangioma is, but, if it starts to interfere with other functions (like my son's did - pressure on nasal passage, eye pressure, etc.) then I would strongly encourage you to get a second opinion.

Hope this helps! Feel free to message me if you need more info!

~R.

I know a friend whose daughter had one, but it didn't go away, so they had it removed when she was around 3. It was a big one on her face. I would look on google to get ideas on how they are removed and how likely it is that they go away, then if your baby is 3 or 4 and it's still there, call doctors about removing it.

Katherine,

Our son also has this and we have had 2 pediatricians look at him and both have said exactly the same as your doctor..that it will go away and not to do anything other than have patience. Both of our doctors said it should go away around his second birthday as his is 1" long x 1/2" wide. It is very raised, about 3/8" high, full of blood and is very dark red, and grew to it's largest size by 12 months from nothing at 5 weeks. We do not touch it as we do not want our son to notice it out of fear it will draw attention to it for him and he could injure himself picking at it, or leave a permanent scar. His is on his collarbone. He was not born with it. It developed at age 5 weeks and now he is 15 months old. I am looking at it now and it suddenly does appear to be slightly smaller than it was. I thought I was imagining it two weeks ago when I looked at it that it seemed a little smaller, but now I think it may actually be very, very slowly shrinking as the doctors say.

Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to put anything topical on it to make it go away. You will just end up putting your baby at risk of a scar or infection. If it opens up, it could be very bloody and the hemangioma will STILL be there. You cannot drain it. You will cause damage and harm to your baby. Just be patient. I know it can be distracting since it's on your baby's forehead but this is temporary and your baby is at an age where atleast he will not develop self conscious issues because it will be a distant memory by the time he is 3.

Nope. The body will reabsorb it, and it will be fine. My daughter had one, too. It just happens.

A. @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com

My son had a VERY small hemangioma on his forehead starting when he was about 6 months old. It started out so small we thought it was just a scratch. As it started to grow we took him to the Dr. and they told us the same thing most Dr.'s will tell you about hemangioma's (exactly what you were told). I didn't like that response and I also noticed it kept growing so I took my son to a Pediatric Dermatologist to get a second opinion. The Pedi Derm. basically said the same thing but he did tell me we could laser it off in his office. At the time I thought, "no way am I gonna have something Lasered off my 6 month old's head". What both Dr.'s failed to tell me was that if I wanted to have it lasered off later that I wouldn't be able to once it was a certain size. Once it got so big (not sure of the exact measurement the Dr.'s consider too big) it would require surgery. So...sure enough...by the time my son was 9 months it was huge and also growing outward. In my opinion it was a medical hazard, if he hit his head in that spot it could have been devastating. So...we found a Dr. in Tampa (referred by someone else who's child also had surgery) and he had it surgically removed. This Dr. told me that if I would have come to him when it was very small he could have simply lasered it off and it would not have needed to be surgically removed. Long story short...had I known that lasering something was so horrible, and that the alternative was surgery, I would have done something about it very early on.