What Is Vitiligo?

Vitiligo is an auto-immune condition where your body attacks the pigment-making cells, called melanocytes. This results in white patches that can occur in any part of the body, including the mouth and hair. Vitiligo patches have clear borders and can spread over time. This condition affects over 1% of the world’s population. It is primarily genetic but can also occur due to genetic mutations or exposure to radiation.

Is Vitiligo Harmful?

Vitiligo is purely genetic. It is not contagious. It is not painful or itchy or discomforting in any way. However, because of a lack of awareness, people with vitiligo may suffer from social marginalization, which is manifested in the form of bullying, rejection in the job market, etc. Visible white patches on the skin can also lower self-esteem. So, even though there is no medical need to treat vitiligo, many people choose to take some treatment to feel confident and find their rightful place in society.

How Is Vitiligo Treated?

There is no permanent cure for vitiligo. Some studies have inconclusively shown that alpha-lipoic acid, folic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin B-12 may restore skin color for some people. More prominent results can be seen with cosmetic procedures like:

• Medication: Some steroids and calcineurin inhibitors, along with vitamin D, can help manage mild symptoms. These medicines help reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system’s attack on melanocytes. However, this kind of treatment is most helpful if used during the onset of symptoms. It can even repigment the skin.
• Light Therapy: Also known as phototherapy, this treatment is the most popular one for treating vitiligo patches. In this treatment, the light patches on the skin are exposed to UV rays in a controlled way. This boosts melanin production can makes the skin darker, bridging the color gap.
• Depigmentation: This is an unpopular form of treatment but can be quite useful for severe cases of vitiligo where the white patches have covered almost all of the body, leaving only a few dark spots. In these cases, the dark spots can be lightened using topical monobenzone creams. This change is permanent. So, this treatment is only advised after considering and rejecting other treatments.
• Skin Grafting: Skin grafting is a surgical procedure where healthy skin is taken from another part of the body and transplanted to the areas affected by vitiligo. This procedure can help to repigment the skin. Skin grafting is more invasive than other treatments and can leave some scarring.

The nature of the treatment will depend on the size and location of the patches and what kind of results you are hoping to see. However, with vitiligo treatment, it is important to understand that the patches tend to spread and no treatment can prevent that. So, if you start seeing new patches, you will have to retake the treatment on those areas.