Cafe A Lait
Café-au-lait macules (CALMs), or café-au-lait spots, are flat, oval lesions (marks) on the skin. Café-au-lait means “coffee with milk” in French. The name refers to the colour of the spots, as they are at least a shade darker than your child’s skin tone.
Café-au-lait macules commonly appear at birth but may develop later, during the first year of life. Their colour varies from light brown to dark brown.
How do CALMs affect the body?
CALMs are benign (harmless). They do not hurt or itch and never progress to anything serious such as skin cancer. The spots can become darker throughout childhood or with sun exposure, but this is not a cause for concern.
How are CALMs diagnosed?
CALMs are easily diagnosed by a skin examination. “Typical” CALMs range from light to dark brown and are well defined, even coloured and often round or oval. They vary in size and can appear anywhere on the skin, although they rarely appear on the face.
How are CALMs treated?
No therapy is needed for CALMs. If your child is concerned about how their CALMs look, you can consider covering the CALMs with camouflage make-up to make them less noticeable. Some people consider laser treatment to reduce the colour.
At our Children Adult Skin Clinic, we treat Cafe Au Lait with our VBeam Vascular Treatment. Call us for appointment today to see our doctor.
Dr Lynn Chiam…
Dr Lynn Chiam graduated from the National University of Singapore and subsequently received her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (Internal Medicine) United Kingdom. She completed her specialist training in dermatology...
Why choose Children & Adult Skin Clinic?
No two individuals are the same. Our treatments are customized to each individual’s unique skin type & needs.
Through consultation with our doctor, a thorough analysis will be undertaken to determine the ideal treatment methods for the best possible results.
