They appear mainly on the upper body: small red dots, which are also called ruby spots because of their appearance. FITBOOK explains what these are and whether they – like birthmarks – can be potentially dangerous.
Small, red nodules on the skin that weren’t there before – have you noticed them too? Doctors speak of tardive or eruptive hemangiomas and often of cherry angiomas to their patients because of the intense coloration. FITBOOK has summarized for you what exactly is behind it, what causes there are for the red dots on the skin – and whether they are dangerous.
Eruptive hemangiomas – what is it actually?
Behind the visible skin changes are vascular dilatations under the skin, so-called vascular loops. They typically present in the early stages as flat, sharply demarcated red small dots, which is why they are sometimes referred to as «ruby spots». Over time, more blood collects in the vascular loops, which is why the hemangiomas become larger and thicker, i.e. they become a kind of nodule. When fully developed, they usually have a diameter of about four millimeters (they rarely get larger than one centimetre) and are darker red than when they started.
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Causes of such red dots on the skin
A tendency to vasodilatation or vascular loops is genetically predisposed. The spots/nodules appear mainly in the trunk area and less frequently on the arms, legs and face. To the outbreak (that’s the explanation for the name, by the way eruptive Hemangiomas, from the Latin for erupting) usually does not appear until adulthood, from around 35 or 40. Women are affected more often than men, which is why some scientists suspect that there could also be hormonal causes for the haemangiomas.
Since more points tend to appear over the years, the skin changes are also called senile haemangiomas, i.e. senile blood sponges.
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Are eruptive hemangiomas dangerous?
Despite the red signal color, eruptive hemangiomas are completely harmless. This distinguishes them from, for example, (brown and black) birthmarks, which you have to regularly check for negative development at the dermatologist. At most, one can injure oneself on the red senile sponges due to their increasingly raised surface and tear or scratch the skin at the site.
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Have red spots on the skin removed with the laser
If you want to remove the visible nodules for cosmetic reasons, you can do it in just one session (costs: from around 70 euros) at the dermatologist – with the laser. It only takes a few seconds per spot until you hear a soft crack and the treated stain is removed. The treatment is commonly described by patients as painless.
Expert advice from Dr. medical Timm Golüke, dermatologist from Munich.