The appearances of birthmarks have always come before man as mysterious phenomena. Why this happened, and what caused it while the formation of the fetus is difficult to understand. But what causes the birthmark to appear on skin has been evaluated. It’s been studied that these marks are formed either due to an abnormal formation of blood capillaries or vascular tissues under the skin, or due to excess or scanty pigmentation of the skin. The common birth marks which appear due to a combination of both or either factors are as described below.

Common Birth marks

• Mongolian spots

These are bluish gray colored marks, which usually appear on the lower back or the buttocks of darker skinned babies. However they aren’t much of a concern, because these spot fade away after the child crosses the 4th year.

• Congenital melanocytic nevus

This spot generally occurs on the head or neck. It appears brown on fair skinned infants, and blacker in darker sinned babies. It comes in any shape and form, like flat or raised. With growing years the marks d not grow, and hence gets smaller compared to the initial appearance. Sometimes they get hair follicles on them.

• Hemangiomas

These are strawberry or dark red coloured raised marks, and they appear on any part of the body. These grow rapidly during the first 5 months of life, and then their growth slows down. In some cases they fade off, and in some cases it stays as it is or grows bigger.

• Salmon Patch

These are also known as stork bites when the mark is on the back of the neck. In case its on the face or forehead, its called an angel’s kiss. These marks often fade off by the 2^nd to 6^th year of the child. But the stork bites generally stays but gets covered with hair.

• Port wine stain

These are small to medium sized marks, dark red coloured, and caused by abnormal bleeding under the skin from the blood vessels. The port wine stains may grow bigger with age, and if left untreated they may get darker and spread. In many cases they appear on the eyelids.

Normally birth marks do not pose serious health threats. But Hemangiomas or Port wine stains, which do not fades away may affect looks. Parents can be cautious about the child’s looks from the beginning, or one may seek treatment in adulthood too. The most practised methods of birthmark treatment in Delhi are:

• Cortecosteroid injections or oral pills are given, and these help in shrinking and may also stop the marks from getting big. Sometimes when corticosteroids do not work then Interferon alfa-12 may be used to stop the growth of the marks.
• Another common method is the laser treatment for birthmarks. Vbeam lasers are applied to the area with burst of bright light on the affected skin. This destroys the vascular cells which are causing the mark to appear, and helps in reducing or removing the birthmarks completely.
• The last option is surgery in case none of the treatments are working in reducing or removing the marks, and if the marks are posing any sort of medical problem.