Port wine stains are not dangerous and pose no threat to your health, and yet they can have a significant impact on the quality of your life.
People may think that time helps someone with a port wine stain to get used to it and to get on with it, and some people do learn to live with their birthmark. Others, however, can find they will go to great lengths in order to hide their port wine stain, and that this can prevent them from doing certain things like wearing a swimming costume and going to the beach.
Fortunately, there is no longer any need for sufferers to change their behaviour through embarrassment. Specially-formulated make-up can be very good at covering marks on both the body and the face, and port wine stains removal is also possible, thanks to laser treatments.
A port wine stain is the result of the malformation of blood vessels underneath the skin, resulting in an excessive concentration of vessels in one small area. These blood vessels can clearly be seen on the surface of the skin, leaving a deep red or purple ‘stain’.
Laser birthmark treatment targets these blood vessels and destroys them, causing the colour to fade from the surface of the skin. While make-up can provide a valuable method for concealing smaller marks, laser can remove any size of birthmark and mean that behaviour is no longer governed by its presence.
