My son has a pigmented mark on his upper back, please advise?

Hello — this question pertains to my son, who is 19 years old. He has had a pigmented mark on his upper back which I first noticed when he was about 8 or 10 years old. It started off looking like a cafe au lait spot, and throughout the years, it has darkened and become rougher in appearance. It is a little smaller that an inch, and looks like some smaller spots grouped together. His pediatrician had never raised any concern when I pointed it out, and he has no diagnosed medical conditions, I recently took him to a dermatologist, and the physician’s assistance there examined it with a dermascope and said it was a “linear epidermal nevus”, and further said that it can simply be monitored yearly and that the chances of it becoming anything dangerous are slim to none. Unfortunately I made the big mistake of googling epidermal nevi and ran across information concerning related syndromes associated with epidermal nevi, and also information indicating that these nevi could have a genetic mutation with associated skin disease in offspring. Again, my son has one solitary epidermal nevus and is otherwise healthy; just looking for some reassurance that I should not be concerned at all about related syndromes and potential gene mutations in his offspring (Dr. Google can be a dangerous man!) Thank you!



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Ahmed Fawzy
11:01 pm

Hi
My opinion it’s size means you should ignore it, only notice if it increase in size
Check once a year may be
The epidermal nevi you Googled spreads on wide area that can almost cover half the trunk , this is not the case here
No reason to worry
Good luck

Ayman Darrag
5:17 am

Hi,
Nevi are not dangerous as long as they do not show major change in size and texture or bleeding,so no need to worry at all,however it should be just monitored as he ages for such changes.

Dr.Honey Arora
7:13 am

Hi..
Many a times googling can simply get you to something very serious and increase anxiety that is not anywhere present in reality..
So if the doctor has reassured you after clinical examination and dermoscopy then you should relax..
Epidermal nevus spreads over a large area of trunk, it is nowhere related to it as it is present since almost ten years..
So do not worry..

Regards.