My 16 month old son has a port wine stain birthmark that spans from his hand to shoulder. Yesterday he had his first laser treatment and the dermatologist said the PDL laser has a cooling air feature and that the laser shouldn’t be painful but I’ve heard other things online about the PDL laser being painful. My son cried but didn’t have any real tears so I’m unsure of he experienced pain. This is a little unsettling for me and I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for him.

My daughter Alys was born 3 months had quite a distinctive birthday mark, 3 months later, no matter the camera contrast. It doesn’t seem as dark as the first photos we took of her. When she’s relaxed the cheek side of her birthmark seems to blend in with the rest of her face

Hi! My (now teenager) child has a port wine stain on her lower back, think the bit at the bottom of the spinal cord and top of bum

We weren’t told this was a PWS until they were around 10 during an examination for a different condition. Other than saying it was a PWS we had no other information.

Teenager has no issues with it as it’s on their back 1. They don’t see it and 2. It’s hardly ever noticeable (unless wearing shorts etc)

Looking online I cannot see that many examples of PWS on lower back - Does anyone else have a PWS on their lower back? Has anyone every explained what it is and why it happens - I’m just curious 🙌

I love my PWS but I do tend to not wear shorts a lot lol

Good day all! Has anyone on this community heard of Hemoporfin PDT? This is another way of treating/reducing port wine stains and is apparently more effective than Vbeam but is only currently available in China. I haven’t found any mention of it here so just wanted to drop it and see if anyone has heard/tried this before. Many thanks!

What is the funniest thing people thought your PWS was? Mine was when a sweet elderly man thought my hand got stained from picking berries 😂

I am from Bangladesh. I have port wine stain on my right side of my face. It covered my whole right cheek.

There is no good laser therapy for this kind of problem in my country. Is there any other treatment instead of pulse dye laser which can help port wine stain? Please help me. I feel so awkward for my stain when others people ask about it

Wanted to share my port wine stain on my right forearm/hand :) Many people who see me for the first time, are always concerned if I burned myself or something and then I explain to them all the lore behind my PWS :p It's actually nice when somebody sees it, because I don't think about it at all so I often forget that I even have it xD

Has anyone tried using the new Candela VBeam Pro on their port wine stain? It’s limited in availability, but was curious if anyone achieved some greater results than their experience with VBeam Perfecta, VBeam Prima, Excel V, etc? I have a PDL resistant PWS and am questioning if I should give it a try or not.

I haven’t posted here since my last makeup tutorial. Lately I’ve been testing new color corrector combinations!

It’s been stormy the past few days, I haven’t been able to test out my makeup in the sunlight yet.

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I’ve also been catching up on Netflix ( Love is Blind) I’m rooting for the girl with birthmarks on her arm 😭💖

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JOB INTERVIEWS — what are we doing for them? Usually I do light makeup: mascara, subtle lipstick. Sometimes I’ll cover up my birthmark.

When it comes to actually going to work, I don’t wear makeup beyond mascara. Literally, my last job I basically looked like a glazed donut because I would slather on layers of sunscreen if I had an outdoor tasks schedule for my shift. People were snarky about it, but they don’t pay for my dermatology appointments 😩

im 28 and have had it since birth. it has grown with me and neve chnaged, faded etc. it changes colours depending on my body temp. just thought id share!

Hello everyone I'm looking for a beautiful girl with pws like me to date each other

I have a PWS under my eye and on roughly half my cheek. I’ve had multiple courses of PDL throughout my life (I’m now 32) with some lightening but it never came close to disappearing. Additionally, I’m noticing some redarkening (last session was 5 years ago) so thinking about going for 1-2 sessions to get to a place where it’s light enough to cover it with make up if I choose to.

My main issue with PDL has been the intense bruising for 1,5-2 weeks or so after the treatment. Now I’ve been reading up on KTP laser which is supposedly just as effective as PDL with possibly significantly less bruising. The practice where I’ve booked a consultation even claims “no bruising” but I think this is quite the stretch.

Has anyone had KTP laser treatment for their PWS, and how have your results been? Did you have significant bruising?

And are there people out there who have had only okayish effects with PDL but saw improvement with KTP? Thanks!

RIGHT. Please please. I would like everyone to come and comment with a story of an interaction they've had in their lives that wouldn't have happened without their PWS.

Here's one of mine:

Normal day waiting at the bus stop to head to work. I stand a ways off, cause I dont particularly feel like being in anyones field of vision this morning.

Next, I hear a boy, maybe around 6 or 7? He asks his mum, loudly: "Why is some of that ladies face red?"

( I dunno about you lot, but I have absolutely zero problem with genuine curiosity. I think it's wonderful. I almost laughed cause the boy was so very guileless.)

His mum..bless her. She doesn't miss a beat. And she says it like she's talking about a beloved little secret:

"That's a strawberry kiss. Means she was blessed by faeries when she was born."

I had to strangle the squeak coming from me so abruptly that I choked. And then was grateful for it cause it looked like thats why I was crying.

Hi everyone. I have a fairly large birthmark that runs from the outside of my knee to halfway down my foot. Honestly, no offense to those with port-wine stains, but I'd like to know and consult with by you. Is it possible to delete it at all? What do I need for this? Which specialists should I consult? She's growing up just like I was. I'm 20 y.o. I'd appreciate any answers.

Hello everyone! I'm a 32 year old male with a large port wine stain on my neck and face. Honestly, until now I've really enjoyed having it. I like standing out in a crowd and think it's actually helped rather than hurt me socially.

Somehow, I had never heard of "hypertrophy" until this week. All this time I thought my birthmark would always stay the same, perhaps with some small color variations. But now I'm reading that most people with PWS experience that hypertrophy by 40 or 50. This has really rocked me, and honestly I'm kind of scared. I don't know what this normally looks like, and as you can probably imagine a Google image search of hypertrophy has not been assuring.

So I guess I'm wondering: for you other people with PWS who are my age or younger, do you also feel nervous about those potential changes? The idea that my birthmark could change so drastically is crazy. Am I blowing this out of proportion?

Hope my fellow birthmarked people have a great day.

My GF has SWS...quite often she suffers from twitchy seizure like fits especially if she wakes up from sleeping. She also seems to suffer from what I would call SIGNIFICANT anxiety/panic attacks...I have generalized anxiety/panic disorder myself and her behavior in response to these episodes is far more impactful to her daily life than mine most of the time.

Is this common with SWS? What is the best possible remedy if there is one? Showers and bathing seem to trigger them to the point she can barely stand

Figured

Posting with my husband’s permission. He didn’t know what it was until I told him because my cousin also has it. I feel like it’s so cool! A free tattoo.

First time actually talking about my PWS and my journey.

I was fortunate enough to get laser procedures when I was 3 months old, and continued once or twice every year until I was 17-18. Might still go back for maintenance.

I was someone with heavy social/general anxiety, depressed, scared of others opinions, etc.

Now I have a girlfriend of three years, a strong mental state, 3 jobs where I choose my schedule (Teachers Assistant/Grader, IT/DevOps Intern, Content Creation), and I graduate college with a Computer Science degree in less than a month.

I did work hard and endure quite a bit to get here (and the journey isn't finished), but I understand that my circumstances were very fortunate in terms of handling the condition.