What an Aesthetic Consultation Should Feel Like (And Why Many Women Walk Away From Bad Ones)

Last updated: 8 November 2026

Cherry angiomas, the small bright red dots that appear on the chest, tummy, back and arms from our thirties onwards, are among the most common things I am asked about at my clinic in Hale, and among the most misunderstood. People call them blood spots, red moles or, if they have looked them up, Campbell de Morgan spots. They are harmless, they are not a sign of anything wrong with your blood or your liver, and they are also the single easiest blemish I treat: a touch of the electrocautery probe, a tiny scab, and a fortnight later it has gone.

This guide explains what cherry angiomas are and why they multiply with age, which red spots are not cherry angiomas and need your GP, how the treatment options compare according to the published evidence, how I remove them with advanced electrocautery, what healing looks like, and what it costs in 2026.

In this article:

• What are cherry angiomas?
• Why do cherry angiomas appear, and why do they multiply?
• Do cherry angiomas go away, and can you prevent them?
• When a red spot is not a cherry angioma
• Treatment options compared: what the evidence says
• How I remove cherry angiomas with advanced electrocautery
• Which body areas can be treated?
• Healing day by day
• Aftercare
• Cherry angioma removal prices in Hale and Altrincham, 2026
• What happens at my clinic in Hale
• Frequently asked questions

What are cherry angiomas?

A cherry angioma is a small, benign cluster of dilated capillaries sitting in the upper layer of the dermis, just beneath the skin surface. The name comes from the colour: bright cherry red at first, sometimes deepening to purple as the lesion matures. They were first described by the British surgeon Campbell de Morgan in the 1870s, which is why older textbooks and some GPs still call them Campbell de Morgan spots.

"These lesions have no malignant potential." Cherry Hemangioma. StatPearls, 2023.

Feature	Typical cherry angioma	Worth knowing
Colour	Bright red, ruby or purple; uniform throughout	The uniform colour is part of what makes them recognisable; a red spot with brown or black in it is something else
Size	Start as a pinpoint; most stay under three or four millimetres, a few reach five or more	Slow growth over years is normal; rapid growth over weeks is not
Shape and surface	Round or oval, smooth, flat or slightly domed; blanches partly or not at all when pressed	Larger ones can look like a tiny raised bead and catch on clothing
Where	Trunk above all: chest, breasts, abdomen, back; also upper arms, shoulders, and sometimes the face, neck and scalp	Rare on the hands and feet
Symptoms	None; they do not itch or hurt	They can bleed surprisingly freely if caught by a razor, a zip or a fingernail, because they are made of blood vessels
How common	Around 5 to 7% of teenagers, rising steadily through adult life to about 75% of people over 75	If you have them, you are in the majority of adults your age, not the minority

Why do cherry angiomas appear, and why do they multiply?

Nobody fully knows why some capillaries in the upper dermis decide to bud and dilate into a cherry angioma. What is known is that the tendency is strongly age related and partly inherited, and that research in the last decade has found small genetic changes within the lesions themselves.

Factor	What is known	What it means for you
Age	The strongest factor by far; most people notice their first in their thirties or forties and acquire more each decade	New ones will keep appearing over the years; removal is of the ones you have, not a cure for the tendency
Family history	They run in families; if a parent had a chest full of them by sixty, you probably will too	Nothing to be done about it, but it explains why some people have dozens and others two or three
Changes within the lesion	Studies have found small acquired mutations in two genes, GNAQ and GNA11, in the cells of cherry angiomas; these are confined to the spot and are not inherited or passed on	Each spot is a tiny local event, not a sign of anything happening elsewhere in the body
Pregnancy and hormones	New cherry angiomas often appear during pregnancy and some fade afterwards	Wait until after pregnancy and breastfeeding to treat them; some will go on their own
Chemical exposure	Bromide compounds and certain medicines have been linked to crops of angiomas in case reports	Rare, and relevant mainly to specific occupations or medications
A sudden crop of many	Dozens appearing over a few weeks, called eruptive angiomas, is uncommon and has been associated with a small number of medical conditions and treatments	This pattern should be seen by your GP before anything cosmetic is done

What they are not caused by: sun exposure (they appear on covered skin as readily as exposed skin), diet, liver disease, high blood pressure or anything wrong with your blood. Those worries come up in almost every consultation, and the answer is reassuring. A gradually growing collection of cherry angiomas on the trunk of an adult is normal skin ageing, in the same category as grey hair.

Do cherry angiomas go away, and can you prevent them?

Once established, a cherry angioma does not disappear on its own, with the partial exception of ones that appear in pregnancy. There is no cream, supplement or lifestyle change that prevents new ones or shrinks existing ones, and the home remedies that circulate online, from apple cider vinegar to tea tree oil, do nothing except irritate the surrounding skin. The only thing that removes a cherry angioma is a treatment that closes or removes the abnormal vessels.

When a red spot is not a cherry angioma

Nearly every small, stable, uniformly red spot on an adult trunk is a cherry angioma. The ones that are not matter, which is why every lesion is looked at properly before anything is treated. My job at the clinic is to decide whether a spot is a clearly benign cherry angioma suitable for cosmetic removal. If it is not, or if I am not certain, it goes to your own GP and I do not touch it.

Lookalike	How it differs	What happens
Spider naevus	A central red dot with fine vessels radiating out like legs; blanches completely when pressed and refills from the centre; common on the face and upper chest	One or two are normal; several new ones in an adult should be mentioned to your GP first; a confirmed benign one can be treated with electrocautery
Pyogenic granuloma	Grows fast over days to weeks, often after a minor injury, bleeds easily and heavily, moist or crusted surface	Your GP; it usually needs removal and examination under the microscope
Angiokeratoma	Dark red to black, with a rough or warty surface; often on the legs or intimate skin	Your GP, because the dark colour needs assessing
Petechiae and purpura	Flat, pinpoint red or purple spots appearing in a crop, often on the legs, that do not blanch and are bleeding into the skin rather than a vessel cluster	Your GP promptly, particularly if new and widespread
Any red spot with brown or black in it, or an odd one out	Cherry angiomas are uniformly red to purple; mixed colour, an irregular edge, rapid change, repeated unprovoked bleeding or a spot that looks unlike all your others is a different lesion until proven otherwise	Your GP; I do not treat pigmented or uncertain lesions at the clinic

Treatment options compared: what the evidence says

Because cherry angiomas are harmless, removal is cosmetic and the NHS does not offer it. Several methods work. A 2020 systematic review in Dermatologic Surgery examined ten studies covering lasers, intense pulsed light, cryotherapy, sclerotherapy, electrosurgery and radiofrequency, and found that no single method was superior; the choice comes down to the lesion, the skin type, the practitioner and what is available.

"Light-based methods such as argon, KTP, Nd:YAG, intense pulsed light, and PDL, along with non-light-based interventions such as cryotherapy, electrosurgery, and sclerotherapy effectively treated cherry angiomas." Buslach N, Foulad DP, Saedi N, Mesinkovska NA. Treatment modalities for cherry angiomas: a systematic review. Dermatologic Surgery, 2020.

Method	How it works	Strengths and limits
Advanced electrocautery (what I use)	A fine probe delivers a precise current that seals the vessel cluster in a fraction of a second	Effective in a single session for almost all small and medium lesions, inexpensive, no consumables, works on any skin tone with care; the brief sharp heat is the main drawback, and large lesions may need two visits
Vascular lasers and IPL	Light absorbed by the red blood cells heats and closes the vessels	Less painful per lesion in the review; higher pigmentation risk in darker skin with some wavelengths; often needs more than one session; I do not offer lasers at the clinic
Shave removal with cautery to the base	The raised lesion is shaved flat and the base sealed	Best for large, raised angiomas; leaves a small flat scar
Cryotherapy	Freezing destroys the vessel cluster	Less precise; blistering and a pale mark afterwards are more common than with cautery
Home remedies and picking	Nothing; the vessels are in the dermis	Bleeding, infection, a scar and an intact angioma underneath

How I remove cherry angiomas with advanced electrocautery

Step	What happens	What you feel
Assessment	Every spot examined under magnification; blanching checked; medical history, medicines (especially blood thinners), skin type and healing history taken; photographs	Nothing; this is the first part of the same appointment
Preparation	Skin cleansed with an antimicrobial prep; numbing cream can be applied for larger numbers or sensitive areas, though most people do not need it	Cool and damp
Treatment	The fine probe touches the angioma and the current seals the vessels; the red colour disappears almost immediately as the blood within it coagulates	A brief sharp heat, like a spark from a sparkler, lasting a fraction of a second per spot
Larger lesions	Raised angiomas of four millimetres or more are treated more conservatively, sometimes over two sessions, to avoid a dip in the skin	The same, for slightly longer
Afterwards	Each spot is left as a small dark dot that forms a dry crust; a soothing balm is applied and written aftercare given	Warm and slightly tender for an hour or two; you drive home and carry on with your day

Around fifteen to twenty small cherry angiomas can be treated in a standard fifteen minute treatment slot, and because each takes a moment, they are usually combined with skin tags, milia or thread veins in the same appointment.

Which body areas can be treated?

Area	Notes
Chest and décolletage	The commonest request, especially before summer or a wedding; heals well; strict SPF afterwards because the area is sun exposed
Abdomen and back	Often the largest numbers; heals well under clothing; avoid tight waistbands rubbing the crusts for a few days
Arms and shoulders	Heal easily; SPF on exposed skin while healing
Face, neck and scalp	Treated at the lowest effective setting; facial skin heals fastest of all but shows any mark, so conservative technique matters
Breast skin	Common site; treated in the same way, avoiding the nipple and areola
Legs	Possible, but lower leg skin heals slowly and marks more readily, so I am selective and set expectations accordingly

Healing day by day

When	What you will see	What to do
Straight after	Each spot is a small dark red or brown dot, sometimes with a pink halo; the bright red has gone	Nothing; keep the area dry for the rest of the day
Days 1 to 3	A dry crust forms over each dot; mild redness around it	Gentle cleansing, pat dry, balm; no swimming, saunas or heavy sweating
Days 4 to 10	Crusts loosen and fall away on their own, leaving a pink or pale mark	Do not pick, and watch for friction from bra straps, waistbands and bag straps
Weeks 2 to 4	The mark fades to skin colour; on the trunk this can take a little longer than on the face	SPF 50 on any exposed treated skin every day
Weeks 4 to 6	Final result; occasionally a large angioma leaves a faint red remnant	A follow up session can be booked from four weeks for anything remaining

Aftercare

Do	Why
Keep the crusts dry for 24 hours, then cleanse gently and pat dry	The crust is the dressing; it protects the healing vessel beneath
Let every crust fall off by itself	Picking is the commonest cause of a mark, and of a small bleed from a vessel that had not fully sealed
Avoid heat, friction and sweat for three or four days	Hot baths, saunas, gym sessions and tight clothing soften and dislodge the crusts early
SPF 50 on exposed treated skin for at least four weeks	Healing skin pigments readily; this is what prevents a brown mark replacing the red one, especially on the chest
Watch for signs of infection	Rare, but spreading redness, increasing pain or pus needs a call to me the same day

Cherry angioma removal prices in Hale and Altrincham, 2026

Cherry angioma removal does not need a separate consultation. The assessment happens at the start of the same appointment, and if a spot is not suitable you are told so and nothing is treated.

Appointment	Price	What it covers
Standard treatment appointment	£220	Assessment, around fifteen minutes of treatment time, balm and written aftercare; typically fifteen to twenty small cherry angiomas, or a mix with skin tags or milia
Extended treatment appointment	£370	Around thirty minutes of treatment time for large numbers or several body areas in one visit
Follow up treatment	£150	For a large angioma needing a second pass, or new spots, from four weeks after the first session
Consultation only	£75, deducted if you go ahead	Advised if you are unsure what the spots are or have a complex skin or medical history
Patch test	Discussed at assessment	A few discreet spots treated first and healing reviewed at three to four weeks; offered for darker skin tones, eczema prone or reactive skin, a history of pigmentation after inflammation, slow healing, or for reassurance before treating the chest

Current prices are always on the price list, which takes precedence over any figure in an article.

Takeaway: Cherry angiomas are harmless clusters of capillaries that most adults acquire with age; they are not a sign of anything wrong and no cream removes them. Electrocautery seals them in a fraction of a second each, fifteen to twenty in a standard appointment, with a small crust that falls off within ten days. The assessment comes first, anything that is not a typical cherry angioma goes to your GP, and the aftercare is simple: do not pick, avoid heat for a few days, and wear SPF on the chest.

What happens at my clinic in Hale

Step	What happens
Booking	Book a skin blemish removal appointment directly; wear something that gives easy access to the area and that will not rub it afterwards
Assessment	Every spot examined under magnification and confirmed as a typical cherry angioma suitable for cosmetic removal; anything atypical is pointed out and referred to your GP
Treatment	Around fifteen minutes of treatment in a thirty minute appointment; skin tags, milia and thread veins can be treated at the same visit
Who treats you	Me, every time; I am the only practitioner at the clinic
Afterwards	Written aftercare, a soothing balm, my direct contact for the healing fortnight, and a follow up from four weeks if anything remains

Patients come for cherry angioma removal from Hale, Altrincham, Bowdon, Hale Barns, Timperley, Sale, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Knutsford and Didsbury, most often in spring before the chest comes out for summer and in the months before a wedding. If you are planning around an event, allow six weeks for the marks to fade fully.

Frequently asked questions about cherry angiomas

Are cherry angiomas dangerous?

No. They are benign clusters of capillaries with no potential to become cancerous. The only reason to have one looked at is if it does not behave like a typical cherry angioma: rapid change, mixed colour, repeated bleeding without a knock, or a spot that looks unlike all your others.

Why am I suddenly getting lots of red spots on my body?

A gradual increase through your thirties, forties and fifties is normal and strongly runs in families. A sudden crop of dozens over a few weeks is uncommon and should be seen by your GP before any cosmetic treatment, because that pattern has been associated with a small number of medical causes.

Are cherry angiomas a sign of liver problems?

No. This is the commonest worry I hear and it is a mix up with spider naevi, which are a different lesion with radiating legs that can be linked to liver disease when they appear in numbers. Cherry angiomas have no link to the liver, the blood or blood pressure.

Do cherry angiomas go away on their own?

Not once established, with the exception of some that appear in pregnancy and fade afterwards. No cream, oil or supplement removes them.

Does cherry angioma removal hurt?

Each spot feels like a brief sharp spark lasting a fraction of a second. Most people have fifteen or twenty treated without any anaesthetic and describe it as a flinch rather than pain. Numbing cream is available for larger numbers or sensitive areas.

Will removal leave a scar?

Small angiomas treated conservatively usually heal to normal skin with no visible mark. Larger raised ones may leave a faint pale or slightly indented spot. The main avoidable risk is a temporary brown mark from sun exposure during healing, which is why SPF on the chest matters.

Can cherry angiomas come back after removal?

A treated spot very rarely returns; a large one occasionally needs a second pass. New ones will continue to appear elsewhere over the years, because the tendency is part of your skin, and many patients return every year or two to clear the new arrivals.

How many can be removed in one appointment?

Fifteen to twenty small ones in a standard appointment, more in an extended one. Very large numbers across several body areas are often better split over two visits so the skin heals comfortably.

Can I have cherry angiomas removed on the NHS?

Not normally. Because they are harmless, removal is classed as cosmetic and is not funded. Your GP will, however, assess any spot that does not look typical, and that assessment is free.

What if a spot turns out not to be a cherry angioma?

Then I tell you what I think it is more likely to be and ask you to see your GP, who can examine, investigate or refer as needed. I do not treat pigmented or uncertain lesions at the clinic, and a consultation only fee is deducted from any later treatment.

Next steps

If red spots on your chest, body or face have been bothering you, book a skin blemish removal appointment at the clinic in Hale. Most cherry angiomas are assessed and treated in the same visit, and anything that needs a different route will be explained clearly.

Learn more about Dr Caroline Warden Clinic

Click here for price list

Learn more about other treatments offered

Further reading

• Advanced Electrocautery Skin Treatments in Hale: What Can Be Removed
• Skin Tag Removal in Hale and Altrincham
• Milia: What They Are and How They Are Removed
• Facial and Chest Thread Veins: Causes and Treatment
• Skin Tag and Cherry Angioma Removal Before Summer
• Advanced Electrocautery for Skin Blemishes in Hale (treatment page and prices)
• Before and After Results

Dr Caroline Warden (GMC 6157708) is an NHS GP with over 19 years of clinical experience, an independent prescriber, and holds a Level 7 postgraduate diploma in cosmetic injectables. She has practised aesthetic medicine since 2017 and is the sole practitioner at Dr Caroline Warden Skin & Aesthetic Clinic, which she runs with her sister Louise at 2 Crown Passages, Hale, Cheshire, WA15 9GN, serving patients from Hale, Altrincham, Bowdon, Hale Barns, Timperley, Sale, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Knutsford, Didsbury and across Cheshire and South Manchester. The clinic was named Best Doctor Led Aesthetic Clinic in Cheshire 2026 by GHP. The clinic removes clearly benign, non pigmented cosmetic blemishes only; it does not diagnose or treat medical conditions, and any lesion that is pigmented, changing or uncertain is referred to your own GP. Prices quoted were correct at the date above; the price list takes precedence. This article provides general educational information and does not replace an individual assessment.

References

1. Cherry Hemangioma. StatPearls Publishing, updated 2023. Read the chapter
2. Buslach N, Foulad DP, Saedi N, Mesinkovska NA. Treatment modalities for cherry angiomas: a systematic review. Dermatologic Surgery 2020;46(12): pages 1691 to 1697. Read the abstract
3. DermNet. Cherry angioma. Read the overview
4. Primary Care Dermatology Society. Cherry angioma (Campbell de Morgan spot): clinical guidance. Read the guidance
5. Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. Campbell de Morgan spots: patient information leaflet. Read the leaflet