grandbaby born with black hairy nevus on half of her face

[fresnoborn]

hello. my grandaughter was born 3 years ago with a black hairy nevus on half of her face. it is jet black and is covered with long wirey hairs. she is absolutely beautiful but the mark on her face is scarey, especially to strangers. well now that she is about to turn 4, i have noticed that her nostril on that side is growing. it is getting larger then the other one. i feel like this mark is starting to deform her face. we live in new mexico and no one here wants to touch it. i don't know what to do anymore. it is breaking my heart and i see her developing a complex about it. have you ever heard of anything like this and who and where can i take her to fix this and if they fix it won't it just continue to deform her face. if anyone out there knows of any success with something like this please respond. also my email is ***@**** if anyone wants to email me about this. i absolutely adore my grandaughter and it is breaking my heart to watch this happening to her. i have never seen anything like this before. oh by the way, we do take her to albuquerque every 6 months to get it checked just to make sure it is not becoming cancerous but all they do is look at it and send her on her way. please, anyone out there that reads this, if you have ever heard or seen something like this please respond.    thank you

[KristianS]

A related discussion, Hairy nevus was started.

[KristianS]

A related discussion, My husband also has the same birthmark on his face. was started.

[librarygal]

Children's Hospital in Los Angeles has a special surgical program for hairy nevuses. They'd be a good first step. There's a little bit of info about them here:

http://www.hopeforkids.com/hairy_nevus_surgery.html

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

You should take your cues from her own behavior.  As a grandparent myself, I understand your worry very well.  Still, you would be amazed by the resiliency many children have in dealing with marks of this sort.

Dr. Rockoff

[fresnoborn]

thank you for answering me. i don't know what else to say but that she is going to suffer extremely. she is a beautiful little girl with a perfect mind and body except for the mark on her face. how can we help her deal with this? she is going to want to know why her? Why do i have this mark? what did i do wrong? oh dr. rockoff this is so sad for me. we do not have alot of money and we cannot afford expensive counselors or plastic surgeons. when do you think we should seek counseling for her? now? later?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

What you are describing is a congenital nevus (mole).  These have to watched for change, but the only treatment is plastic surgery, and that is no small matter in a small child.  The decision to operate or not is one that needs to be made by experts in pediatric plastic surgery.  I assume your granddaughter is seeing such specialists in Albuquerque.  Other opinions can be obtained elsewhere, but no doubt anyone would be reluctant to operate at this point.

Without in any way minimizing your concerns, I would point out that kids often do a remarkable job of adapting to obvious deformities.  Basically, the people and kids they see every day get used to the way they look, and people stop bringing it up.  Her parents will, I'm sure, be vigilant to see that her psychosocial development proceeds properly, and will take action if it's appropriate.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff