Birthmark or skin blemish surgeries

Dr. Ed Buchanan, a pediatric plastic surgeon, discusses birthmarks on children and how to decide whether surgery is advised to remove them
Family Health Advice | Removing birthmarks or skin blemishes through surgery
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Birthmark or skin blemish surgeries

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As a pediatric plastic surgeon, a lot of the issues that we deal with are birthmarks or skin blemishes. These birthmarks can be vascular malformations, which are collections of blood vessels that are abnormal or they can be just simple nevi, which are essentially brown spots on the skin. The decision whether to remove these can be complicated, because every one is a little bit different. And depends on not only what they look like but also where they’re located on the body. So when it comes to the decision to remove one or have one removed, a consultation with a pediatric dermatologist as well as a pediatric plastic surgeon is definitely indicated and will get you the best answer. These birth marks should be evaluated. And lots of them can be evaluated just by your pediatrician. Your pediatrician when you go for your well baby visit can evaluate these. However, if they have any concern, they will most likely refer you to a pediatric dermatologist so that they can take a closer look. And if the pediatric dermatologist then has any concerns, they’ll most likely send you to me or a pediatric plastic surgeon to actually remove them.

Dr. Ed Buchanan, a pediatric plastic surgeon, discusses birthmarks on children and how to decide whether surgery is advised to remove them

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Edward Buchanan

Pediatric Plastic Surgeon & Author

Dr. Edward P. Buchanan is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.  He is the Chief of Cleft and Craniofacial Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital. Before coming to Houston, he trained in Plastic Surgery at Stanford University and did further training in Pediatric Plastic Surgery and Craniofacial Surgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington.  Although he performs all kinds of Plastic and Pediatric Plastic Surgery, his main focus of practice is Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery as well as Craniofacial Surgery.When he is not in Houston, Dr. Buchanan enjoys traveling to countries across the globe to teach and learn from other surgeons.  His most recent trip was to Lilongwe, Malawi, where he was a member of the Texas Children’s Hospital Global Surgical Initiative to help perform and teach Cleft and Pediatric Plastic Surgery.He recently wrote a children’s book entitled, “The Adventures of the Prickly Pear and the Happy Hoglet: Beginning the Journey of the Mental Ninja.” The book is intended to help children begin to develop a healthy self-image so that they can begin their Journey to becoming Mental Ninja’s (mentalninja.org).  The story was inspired by the children and family’s Dr. Buchanan has cared for over the years. 

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