Café-au-lait spots on the skin: when the skin changes should lead you to the doctor
Created: 2022-06-08 10:43 am
By: Juliane Gutmann
Discovered birthmarks, pigment spots or other dark spots on the skin?
In most cases these are harmless.
But café-au-lait spots can indicate a disease.
The first sunbathing leaves many freckles on the nose.
Pigment spots, which can also spread to other parts of the body, are usually harmless and benign.
There are different forms, the most well-known pigment spots include freckles as well as age spots or often somewhat larger spots caused by the sun (Lentigo solaris).
So-called café-au-lait spots are also pigment spots.
The following signs indicate that it is a café-au-lait stain:
Light to dark brown coloring reminiscent of milk coffee (Café au Lait).
Even pigmentation
Round to oval basic shape
Diameter a few millimeters to over 15 centimeters
Flat and not raised
The usually harmless skin changes occur
relatively frequently
.
Up to three percent of all newborns and up to 30 percent of all adolescents are affected, according to a press release from the online medical practice ZAVA.
Café au lait spots can also develop on the skin.
© Jit Lim/Imago
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Café au lait spots can be a neurofibromatosis symptom
Only in rare cases do café-au-lait spots indicate a disease that requires treatment, as general practitioner Dr.
Emily Wimmer is quoted from the online medical practice ZAVA.
The skin changes can be associated with neurofibromatosis, one of around 6,000 rare chronic diseases.
As the Bundesverband Neurofibromatose informs, a distinction is made between type 1 (NF1), type 2 (NF2) and schwannomatosis (NF3).
All three are benign tumor diseases
, but with very different characteristics, courses and treatment options.
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“Neurofibromatosis is a group of genetic disorders in which many soft, fleshy growths of abnormal nerve tissue (neurofibromas) appear under the skin and in other parts of the body.
Flat, milk-coffee-colored spots (café-au-lait spots) appear on the skin,
"says the pages of the specialist portal MSD Manual.
They would occur in most patients with neurofibromatosis type 1, it said.
According to the Pharmazeutische Zeitung, sufferers of type 1 neurofibromatosis already show symptoms such as café-au-lait spots and brownish pigmentation anomalies on the iris of the eyes in the first few years of life.
Around 60 percent of neurofibromatosis patients hardly feel any health effects, and around half of those suffering from symptoms can be successfully treated, according to Techniker Krankenkasse (TK).
The symptoms of advanced neurofibromatosis are very diffuse
and can range from sudden hearing loss to balance disorders or headaches, according to the TK.
In most patients, neurofibromatosis is detected during routine exams or during visits to the doctor for cosmetic concerns, according to msdmanuals.com.
Is there sun protection from inside?
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More than six café au lait spots on your skin?
Also, when should you see a doctor?
When you should see a doctor to be on the safe side, as the online medical practice ZAVA informs:
Six or more café au lait spots on the skin (possible sign of neurofibromatosis)
Café-au-lait spots arranged in a pattern, roughly in a row (possible sign of genetic mosaic disorders)
In addition to café-au-lait spots, there are other skin changes such as skin knots
For skin lesions and neurofibromatosis cases in the family
(jg)