Q. Can cafe-au-lait spots cause neurofibromatosis?

Hi doctor,

I have noticed three to five cafe-au-lait spots in my body in which three of them are confirmed, the other two were light and was not examined by my dermatologist. I do not have enough spots to be diagnosed with neurofibromatosis 1, but I was scared that I could be affected with neurofibromatosis 2 later. I have permanent tinnitus, but neuromas were ruled out, which was cleared on seeing a clear brain MRI. I have no tumor in my brain or any other signs except these spots. Should I expect these tumors to appear in the following years, or there is any possibility to have these spots as a benign symptom? I have no cutaneous schwannomas. My aunt on my maternal side has them. I may also carry a red hair gene, which may make the spots more frequent. Please help me to clear this.

Thank you doctor,

Actually, the three confirmed ones are on the right side of my body (one on my buttock, over 6 cm and oval in shape, one irregular one that measures around 2 cm on my hip with irregular borders, and another small very pale oval one on my knee between 1 cm and 2 cm, depends if the skin is stretched). There is an irregular line on my left arm that I scrapped out of fear. So, it is not visible anymore, but it looked like a very jagged spot measuring no more than 1 cm (had it since childhood too, not pictured), and the last one I scratched too, whether it is a real CAL spot when it appeared. It looks about 2 cm wide. I will attach pictures. Regarding other skin features, I have a solitary lip lentigo since childhood, mild freckling on the pubic area (mostly on the right also, and not in the inguinal fold). My mother has freckles all over. I also have two freckles under my left armpit, one very light (like a cafe-au-lait macule) and another dark one.

Thank you doctor,

I was more afraid of being affected with NF type 2 since I had tinnitus and only a few spots. There is no known NF 1 in my family. My mother had spots in her eyes looking like Lisch nodules but, no medical exam mentioned it. So I do not know whether they are real Lisch nodules or freckles. My question is, whether there is any chance that this could be NF 2? I am still scared that I might still get acoustic neuromas. Three to five spots would be in favor of NF 2 or not?

Thank you doctor,

Do you mean I can stop worrying about this disease? This is true. I tend to be worried more about my health.