Angel Kisses And Stork Bites

     Newborn babies often have pink or red patches on the back of the neck near the hairline, on the forehead or on the upper eyelids. Doctors call these “salmon patches” but the more common names for them are “stork bites” for the ones on the back of the neck (It’s where the stork hangs on to the baby before dropping him down the chimney) and angel kisses for the ones on the face (The angels give a quick kiss on the forehead before sending the baby down to Earth).  In non-Caucasians, they usually have a darker color.

     Even experts are not quite sure what causes these lesions, but it is thought that they are small, superficial blood vessels that were more prominent when the baby was in the uterus. They can fill with blood and become more prominent when the baby cries or strains and they fade if the skin around them is stretched. They gradually go away by about 6 years of age, although the ones on the back of the neck can last longer. 

     Two other pink/red lesions that can resemble a salmon patch are a hemangioma and a port-wine stain.  Whereas salmon patches are flat, hemangiomas feel bumpy or raised. Salmon patches do not get bigger but hemangiomas do grow larger with time. A port-wine stain is a darker red discoloration that is usually on one side of the head or face rather than being in the middle like salmon patches. Port-wine stains do not grow, but they do not fade away like salmon patches.

     No testing or treatment is necessary when an infant has a salmon patch on the face or neck, but if an infant has one over his lower back, especially if it is in the middle of the back, the infant should have an ultrasound done to be sure the spinal cord under the lesion is normal.