Capillary malformations (or port wine stains) are often harmless. You can care for your child’s port wine stain in the same way as the rest of their skin. However, the birthmark may tend to get dry, so you may need to moisturize it more often.

Unless there is a related condition, these birthmarks do not need medical treatment. You or your child might want to try to cover the birthmark with make-up, try laser therapy, or both. Laser therapy is the safest treatment and is least likely to cause scarring.

Laser therapy can lighten the area though it may not remove the whole birthmark. Sometimes it does not remove any of the mark, or the mark comes back after a while and laser therapy can be tried again.

The sooner your child is treated, the better their outcome might be. Babies have smaller blood vessels, making it easier to treat their port wine stains. Laser therapy can be done on children as young as 6 months old, though very young children may need anesthesia [ann-ess-TEE-see-uh].

You should ask your child’s doctor about what timing that is right for your child should you opt for laser treatment.