I had a patient in her early 50s who came to me recently concerned about a number of small, round, raised, bright red lesions that were appearing on her trunk. Although they were painless, she was concerned about their appearance and the frequency with which they were occuring.

Cherry angiomas (also called cherry hemangiomas or senile angiomas) are dilated capillaries that arise on the skin and range in size from 0.1mm to  1 cm. They tend to appear in both men and women in their 30s and 40s and can grow in size and number over time. They are benign, red to purple growths that occur mainly on the trunk and occur in some people  more than others.

Cosmetic treatment  includes curettage and electrodesiccation which involves scooping out the lesion and then cauterizing it or pulsed dye laser therapy which uses a laser to achieve the same results.

Since my patient was not concerned about her cosmetic appearance, there was no referral to dermatology and reassurance about their benign nature was all she needed.