Hemangioma scabbing for a month

[DianaK]

Our 7 month old has had scabbing/ulceration on her 2cm hemangioma for about a month. Our pediatrician and a pediatric dermatologist both felt it is an ulcer occurring with the involution. The pediatric dermatologist also told us to use zinc oxide instead of aquaphor to keep it moist. However, it seems that she is in the least amount of pain when we just let the scab dry up and put nothing on it. The dermatologist also put her on oral antibiotics despite stating that it doesn't look infected. She then said we should consider laser in the future.
My questions are: how long do ulcers take to heal? Has anyone else given up on trying to keep it moist and let it dry out? Does the laser work in healing the ulcer faster and promoting involution? What kind of scarring can be expected from allowing the hemangioma to resolve on it's own or from laser?

[nickbar]

Hi,
Ulcers are very stubborn and many do take a long time to heal or never seem to. My son had an ulcer on his ear, which made for painful shirt changing. I wasn't very good at putting ointment on because he always rubbed it off. The use of the zinc oxide may minimize scarring. We finally had the ulcer lasered and this finally healed the area... I can;t tell where the ulcer was now. Most ulcers leave a scar.

C

[jgoodman0814]

I Agree That Most Ulcers, Regardless Of How Severe Leave A Scar. Laser Helps Heal Them, But Can Also Leave A Scar. We Had A Really Stubborn Ulceration For 4 Months. Seemed Like Everytime We Got It To Dry Up, Someone Would Rub Her Arm, Or The Shirt Would Pull The Scab Off And It Would Bust Open Again. She Was In Such Pain, That We Had To Do Something Different. She Was Put On Steroids And It Healed Within 4 Weeks Of Use Because It Was No Longer Growing At A Rapid Rate Or Shrinking At A Rapid Rate. We Opted For Laser When The Second Ulceration Came Up, And The Dr Gave Us A Liticain Ointment To Numb The Area So We Could Keep Antibiotics On It Without It Hurting Her. Best Thing Ever!!!!! Check With Your Dr To See If They Can Get You Some! Laser Did Wonders, The Ulceration Healed Within A Week!

[DianaK]

Thanks...Both answers help a lot...

[edensmom]

Our daughter has had an ulcer for 2 months. The dr. told us to keep it moist to help it heal. The moistened ulcer scab kept coming off on anything it touched. Because it is on her head it seemed to touch everything (bedding, carseat, clothing, etc). This has been very painful for her. About a week ago, I stopped using ointment and let the scab harden. It has been less painful for her and seems to be healing better.

[taa_19]

Originally Posted by edensmom

Our daughter has had an ulcer for 2 months. The dr. told us to keep it moist to help it heal. The moistened ulcer scab kept coming off on anything it touched. Because it is on her head it seemed to touch everything (bedding, carseat, clothing, etc). This has been very painful for her. About a week ago, I stopped using ointment and let the scab harden. It has been less painful for her and seems to be healing better.

To Edens Mom:

Our daughter has a hemangioma under her chin in the neck area. It started to Ulcerate and cause her pain. We called our Pediatric Dermatologist who specializes in hemangiomas. She gave us a prescription for Lidocaine ( a numbing cream) and Mupirocin ( a topical antibiotic ) What we would do was right before bath time we would apply a thin layer of the lidocaine wait 20 mins and then bathe her dripping soapy water on the area NEVER rubbing it. After her bath the ulcerated are would be numb and we would then apply the Mupirocin. Then on top of that we would apply a thick layer of Vaseline and then a bandage. After a week of this it healed beautifully and has not given us a problem since. Please ask your doctor about this and see if it will work for you guys. I know its frustrating especially seeing your lil one go through pain. The key for us was keeping it covered with vaseline and a bandaid. I promise it worked. Let me know if it works for you!!

Good luck and God Bless!!

Tania