Above: Why Do Baby Girls Have Birthmarks? Why Do Women Have Birthmarks?
Why do we have birthmarks? Do you have a birthmark? What causes birthmarks? Are birthmarks dangerous? ‘Strawberry’ birthmarks grow rapidly when babies are just a few weeks old. Strawberry shaped birthmarks called infantile hemangiomas grow rapidly in infants much earlier than previously thought, researchers have discovered. What are Birthmarks? The term ‘birthmark’ can refer to all sorts of spots in the human body.
A birthmark is a benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth, usually in the first month. Birthmarks can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, smooth muscle, fat, fibroblasts, or keratinocytes.
Dermatologists divide birthmarks into two types. Pigmented birthmarks caused by excess skin pigment cells include moles, café au lait spots, and Mongolian spots. Vascular birthmarks (also called red birthmarks) are caused by increased blood vessels and include macular stains (salmon patches), hemangiomas, and Port-wine stains. A little over 1 in 10 babies have a vascular birthmark present by age 1. Several birthmark types are part of the group of skin lesions known as nevi or naevi, which means “birthmarks” in Latin.
The exact cause of most birthmarks is unknown, but vascular birthmarks are not hereditary. Vascular birthmarks are thought to occur as a result of a localized imbalance in factors controlling the development and migration of skin cells.