Purplish skin on your neck can be anything from a benign stain to cancer that needs immediate attention. If you have one or more purple areas on your neck or if your newborn baby does it's best to consult a doctor to determine the cause along with a course of treatment if one is necessary.
Hemangioma
A hemangioma can look red or purple. These abnormal overgrowths of blood vessels form lumps in your skin, according to the Merck Manuals. These usually occur during infancy, but can develop during middle age. More than half of infant hemangiomas show up on the neck or head. Those developing later in life may materialize on your trunk area. Hemangiomas that appear in infancy show up soon after birth. They enlarge quickly for up to the first 18 months, then begin to shrink. Some 3/4 of hemangiomas disappear by age 7. However, skin sometimes stays slightly discolored or scarred. Many hemangiomas are left untreated by doctors because they resolve on their own, advises Merck. When hemangiomas are treated, doctors may use laser treatments or prescribe injectable or oral corticosteroids.
Skin Cancer
Skin cancer most often shows up in areas that are frequently exposed to the sun such as the neck, advises the Mayo Clinic. Many types of skin cancer do not look purple. However, Kaposi's sarcoma is a rare form of skin cancer that results in purple or red patches on the skin. This skin cancer actually develops in your skin's blood vessels, and is made of cancer cells as well as blood cells. The purples patches may not cause any symptoms, but can be painful, according to MedlinePlus. This cancer can, however, spread to your lungs or digestive tract. This type of cancer most often occurs in people who have weakened immune systems, like those who have AIDS or are taking medicine to suppress natural immunity. Folks who've had organ transplants or older adults of Mediterranean heritage also have increased risk, advises the Mayo Clinic. This cancer may be treated by surgery or, if the cancer is widespread and advanced, with chemotherapy, according to the American Cancer Society. However, sometimes when immune suppressing drugs are stopped or changed these lesions disappear.
Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma
Medullary thyroid carcinoma rarely metastasizes to the skin, but can show up as purple lesions in the neck area when it does. Medullary thyroid carcinoma makes up about 3 to 10 percent of all thyroid cancers, according to a case report in Cancer Research Treatment by Won Je Choi et al. In Choi's case report, one patient had many flat purple and red lesions on the left neck, the area adjacent to the neck and the chest. The most effective way to treat these skin lesions is to surgically remove them, advises Choi. However, when the cancer moves to the skin, prognosis is poor, with a likely survival timeframe of 7.5 to 19 months, Choi notes. Chemotherapy rarely helps, but in this case study was successful, says Choi.
Port Wine Stain
A "stork bite" is a port-wine stain that shows up on the nape of a newborn's neck due to malformed blood vessels. Port-wine stains are permanent discolorations that are harmless, according to the Merck Manuals. These are smooth and flat, and may be purple, pink or red. The stains can cover large areas of your body or be small. Port wine stains that you find bothersome can be treated with laser therapy, advises Merck.
References
- The Merck Manuals: Growths and Malformations of theVessels
- MayoClinic.com: Skin Cancer Symptoms
- MedlinePlus: Kaposi's Sarcoma
- "Cancer Research Treatment"; A Case of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma in which the Skin Metastasis was Concurrently Present and Response Occurred to Chemotherapy; Won Je Choi et al.; 2008
- "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism"; Choroidal and Skin Metastases from Papillary Thyroid Cancer: Case and a Review of the Literature; Anca M. Avram et al.; Nov.2004
