What is it?
Vascular and pigmented lesions include a variety of skin discolorations that might be present at birth or develop over time. A vascular lesion is formed by abnormally large or numerous blood vessels located directly under the surface of the skin. These vessels may be visible through the skin or result in a red appearance of the skin. Vascular lesions usually appear on the face, neck and upper body. Vascular lesions include port wine stains and strawberry hemangiomas that develop at birth, grow rapidly and often dissolve on their own. Vascular lesions also include skin conditions such as facial telangiectasia- the appearance of spider veins across the face and rosacea- red facial lesions around the nose and cheeks.

Pigmented lesions occur due to the melanin pigment present in our skin. Pigmented lesions occur when an abundance of melanocytes are found in the skin. Some pigmented lesion conditions include moles, brown age spots, freckles and lentigines.

What are the causes?
Vascular lesions are formed by the unregulated growth of blood cells in an area of uneven distribution. There is no known cause for the occurrence of these larger than normal unregulated blood vessels. Similarly, pigmented lesions result from irregular production of a skin pigment or pigment cells.

How can it be prevented?
Although no proven prevention technique is known, avoiding exposure to the sun, which often causes skin damage, may help prevent growth of these lesions.

What are the treatments?
Both vascular and pigmented lesions can be treated with laser therapy. The procedure is safe and easy. The light emitted by the laser is absorbed by the lesions. This causes them to disburse under the skin's surface. Pigmented lesions such as moles might be excised depending on their size and pigmentation to ensure that there are no possible signs of melanoma, or skin cancer.