Strawberry Hemangioma is a growth, and a harmless one at that, but does not always look pretty.

They are created by rapidly diving cells of the blood vessel walls. These are called endothelial cells.

They usually appear at birth and grow pretty rapidly throughout the first year of life.

There can be many different colours, shapes and sizes. All depending on where they are located.

The strawberry hemangioma due to its red colour, is classed a Superficial hemangioma, as it grows on the top layer of the skin.

Those in the deeper level of the skin are called Deep hemangioma or Cavernous hemangioma. These can be blue or even colourless.

Most of hemangiomas are on the skin.

Who is at risk?

About 10% of infants are affected with hemangiomas. The risk to females is higher than in males, about 5 times higher.

White infants, and premature infants, like my two girls, are at an increased risk to have a hemangiomas growth.

My daughter, Samantha, has a strawberry hemangioma mark, just above her belly button. You can see it on the picture below. As you can see, the colour is almost blood red, and the texture is rough, like a scab. But, she is in no pain, and is as happy as larry!

Signs and Symptoms

These growths usually appear in infancy, within the first 2 weeks of life.

Sometimes they will appear as a little bump under the skin, or as a reddish patch, which may look like a bruise.

Hemangiomas can grow very rapidly for weeks, or months.

Growth can stop at 6 to 9 months later, and have raised areas ranging in size from a few millimetres, to centimetres.

Taking Care of Strawberry Hemangioma

There are no real measures of taking care of a hemangioma growth. They usually resolve themselves without any treatment.

NOTE: It can take several years for the hemangioma to resolve itself, and the colour may not entirely disappear.

What can you do? Just keep on observing for any changes. If it starts to bleed, then you can treat it with wet compresses and antibacterial ointment. This is usually all that is needed.

You will then have to watch out for it bleeding again. If it does, then consult your doctor.

Seek medical advice if the hemangioma changes colour, appears infected, starts to bleed, and if the hemangioma is close to the eyes, mouth, or nose of your baby, appears to be blocking your baby’s vision, breathing or feeding.

Keep a more careful watch on hemangiomas if they are located in the nappy/diaper area, or lower lip of your baby. In those places the hemangioma is more prone to bleeding, due to friction.

Treatments

Again, most hemangiomas don’t require any treatment at all.

Those that are situated in the child’s airway, or those that are close to the eyes, treatment is necessary. The treatment will help to slow down the growth of the hemangioma.

Your doctor may prescribe an oral corticosteroid. This medication acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. Very good for asthma suffers.

Hemangioma growths usually respond to steroids, and their growth will slow down, but will not disappear. About a 30% success rate

If that does not work, then a drug called interferon can be used. This has a very high success rate of 70%, but has side effects.

If, all else fails to treat the growth, then radiation therapy or surgery is an option.

Once the hemangioma growth has gone, either through natural causes, or medical intervention, there is usually a colour difference between the skin, and where the growth use to be.

Laser treatment can help sort this problem out, by helping to fade the colour of the remnant growth.