Cherry Hemangiomas

Cherry hemangiomas appear as small red dots that may be as small as 1 mm to 1cm in size. The dots can vary in color from bright red to purple or even blue and may be flat or raised. They can appear on any area of the body but are more common on the face, neck and trunk. They tend to more common in men than women and often start in our thirties and increase in number as we age. The exact cause is unknown. Cherry hemangiomas are rarely symptomatic unless they bleed which is caused by scratching or friction from clothes.

Treatment:

• Lasers – At Lazaderm we use the Cutera 1064nm laser. The laser energy as absorbed by the blood in the vessels and will destroy the lesion. Cherry hemangiomas respond very nicely to the laser. We can generally get 100% clearance with no scarring. Some clinics will use a KTP laser but we find that the Cutera 1064nm laser works very well and can be used on patients with darker skin.
• Radiofrequency – We can use the Ellman Surgitron System to cauterize the lesion. This will require local anesthesia and is more likely to leave a small scar. We only use this if the lesion does not respond to the laser which is very rare.
• Cryosurgery – We do not do this at our office because the newer technologies offer much better control and less damage to surrounding tissue.