1. Marked at Birth
Birthmarks appear on about 10 percent of babies at birth or soon afterwards. Birthmarks are as individual as the people who carry them. They come in all shapes and sizes, in pink, red, purple, blue, tan, brown and black. Some are raised, while others are flat. People have many names for birthmarks, such as stork bites, strawberry marks and port wine stains topping the list. Old wives tales say that birthmarks come from what women eat during pregnancy, but that's not true. There's usually no known cause of birthmarks.
2. Spot a Strawberry Mark
Healthcare professionals often call strawberry marks and port wine stains by another name: vascular birthmarks. These birthmarks come from blood vessels that don't form correctly. A common vascular birthmark is a hemangioma, which can lie on the skin surface or deeper into the skin tissue. Hemangiomas show up more often in females, preemies and twins. Another vascular birthmark, port-wine stains, never go away, but grow along with a child, often getting darker and sometimes developing little bumps called cobblestones. This type of birthmark has a tendency to be the most disfiguring.
3. Holding on to Pigment
Pigmented birthmarks are another type of birthmark. These come from extra cells that cause skin pigment changes, such as cafe au lait spots, which look like the color of coffee with milk. They can occur anywhere on the body. Bluish Mongolian spots often appear on the back or buttocks of darker skinned babies not of Caucasian descent. Mongolian spots fade with age, but moles (another type of pigmented birthmark) don't.
4. Worry Wart
While most birthmarks are nothing to worry about, sometimes vascular birthmarks interfere with other body parts or indicate the presence of an illness such as Sturge-Weber Syndrome. For example, hemangiomas and port-wine stains may reach an eye and interfere with vision. Hemangiomas can also become infected or require steroids to control growth. Pigmented birthmarks are less likely to develop into something serious, although watch for the appearance of more cafe-au-lait spots, which can be a sign of a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis. Moles present at birth can later turn into skin cancer. Play it safe and introduce any birthmark to a doctor for diagnosing and monitoring. Make an appointment if birthmarks change in appearance or start hurting or bleeding.
5. Cut That Birthmark Out of Your Life
Slightly over half of people with birthmarks receive medical treatment. While many birthmarks don't require medical attention, some people want them removed, particularly if they're large or easily visible on the face. Laser surgery is often chosen for removing surface birthmarks from the skin, although sometimes cafe-au-lait spots return. It is possible to treat unsightly port wine stains with a pulsed-dye laser sometimes as early as infancy, but it may take several treatments.
