My 6 month old daughter has an haemangioma on the back of her head which became infected culminating in a 4 day stay in hospital over xmas while she received iv antibiotics. What can I do to prevent this happening again? Is this likely to reoccur frequently/ medical opinion seems to be to let nature take its course but how can I possibly keep her head completely sterile?

A Thank you for your question. Your baby is six months old now and haemangiomas usually stop growing at about this time. You should notice grey areas appearing and this means that the blood vessels are closing down and the next stage is gradual disappearance. Your baby will soon be moving around more and may choose a different sleeping position which will also help. It is not unusual for haemangiomas to break down easily, bleed and become infected during the growing phase. I have seen many of them and once the growing phase is over they do not seem to break down again, although I can’t guarantee that this will not happen. The best advice I can offer is to keep a close eye on it and act quickly if you notice infection because antibiotic cream works well in the early stages of infection. Keep the head as clean as possible and try not to wash it too frequently because that destroys the healthy bacteria on the scalp. No treatment is the best option since most of them eventually resolve without leaving any scar or deformity.

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