judahs "birthmark"

We've had lots of questions about the mark on Judah's head. I never have a very good answer except that its kinda like a birthmark. So, here is the medical explanation for it.


Hemangioma: This term is used to describe a variety of blood-vessel growths. These flat or raised lesions can be large and disfiguring or small and not very noticeable.

Hemangiomas affect about 2 to 5 percent of babies and are more common in girls, preemies, and twins. Twenty percent of children who have hemangiomas have more than one.

Hemangiomas occur mostly on the head and neck, and, unlike other birthmarks, they can grow rapidly. They usually show up during the first six weeks of life — only 30 percent are visible at birth — and grow for about a year, usually getting no bigger than 2 or 3 inches.

Then, without treatment, they usually stop growing and begin to turn white and shrink. This reversal process can take three to ten years. While many hemangiomas leave normal-looking skin in their wake, others can cause permanent skin changes.

One type of hemangioma, a superficial hemangioma (formerly called a strawberry hemangioma), appears on about 2 to 5 percent of babies. This raised pink-red mark tends to grow and then disappear — half are flat by age 5, and nine out of ten are flat by age 9.

A deeper hemangioma (formerly called a cavernous hemangioma) appears as a lumpy bluish-red mass. It grows quickly in the first six months and is usually gone by the time a child reaches his teens. Such hemangiomas are bluish in color because the abnormal vessels are deeper than those in the superficial hemangioma.