Vitiligo often starts as a pale patch of skin that gradually turns completely white. The centre of a patch may be white, with paler skin around it. If there are blood vessels under the skin, the patch may be slightly pink, rather than white. The edges of the patch may be smooth or irregular.
The main symptom of vitiligo is loss of natural color or pigment, called depigmentation. The depigmented patches can appear anywhere on your body and can affect: Skin, which develops milky-white patches, often on the hands, feet, arms, and face. However, the patches can appear anywhere.
Treatment cannot cure vitiligo.
While researchers are looking for a cure, treatment cannot currently cure this disease. Treatment can help restore lost skin color, but the color (repigmentation) may fade over time. To keep their results, many patients have maintenance treatments.
If you have vitiligo, your immune system attacks cells in your body called melanocytes. These are cells that make pigment. Depending on where in your body the immune system destroys these pigment-making cells, you will have: Lighter patches and spots on your skin.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, up to half of people who develop vitiligo do so before the age of 20. But despite its high incidence in childhood and early adulthood, vitiligo can happen at any age, says the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
Areas of your skin that lose their pigment are called macules if they're less than 1 centimeter wide, or patches if they're larger than 1 centimeter. If you have vitiligo on a part of your body that has hair, your hair may turn white or silver. The condition occurs when your body's immune system destroys melanocytes.
Pityriasis versicolor can sometimes be confused with vitiligo, as they both cause the skin to become discoloured in patches. But there are ways to tell the difference: vitiligo often develops symmetrically (on both sides of your body at the same time), while pityriasis versicolor may not.
First, it is important to perform a self-check skin exam at home to look for any unusual signs or symptoms. There are no home tests that can test for vitiligo, but you can check if you have depigmented areas. It is possible for vitiligo to lead to hearing loss. This is because the inner ear contains melanocytes.
Another condition that rarely causes a true white spot is nevus depigmentosus, which is a birthmark that usually appears within the first few months of life, has jagged edges, usually doesn't turn the hair white, and doesn't grow in size like vitiligo – it may get larger as the child grows and the skin stretches, but ...
Studies suggest that vitamin D3 increases tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in vitro [12], which may lead to repigmentation in vitiligo skin lesions. Calcipotriol and tacalcitol, which are vitamin D analogs, are also known to induce repigmentation in patients with vitiligo [13,14].
There is no "cure" for vitiligo. Sometimes patches go away on their own. But when that doesn't happen, doctors can prescribe treatments that might help even out skin tone. Some of these treatments are things you can try at home; others are done by a doctor.
Some food items like juicy fruits rich in vitamin C or ascorbic acid such as oranges and lemon, other fermented food items as curd, alcohol, Fish, red meat are to be avoided as they have harmful effect on vitiligo and can give rise to spreading of patches.
Localized: Skin patches are found on limited areas of the body. Generalized: Skin patches are scattered around the body. Mucosal : Vitiligo affects the mucous membranes found in the mouth and/or genitals. Focal: Skin patches remain in a small area of the body without spreading in the first two years.
Vitiligo can cause minor changes or extensive changes in the skin. In some people, it may be hardly noticeable, while in others it is obvious.
If it involves most of the body (some say more than 80% of it), it's called universal vitiligo – I've seen patients who have so much vitiligo that it was difficult to find areas of normal skin color because they were pretty much all white.
Certain components of hair dye, bleaching agents, and skin-care products can set off a vitiligo flare. Marmon advises choosing products labeled hypoallergenic that are free of harsh chemicals, fragrances, and irritants.
Diagnosis of Vitiligo
If you have vitiligo, the light makes affected areas of your skin appear chalky and bright. Other tests can include: Blood tests to check for other autoimmune diseases. An eye exam to check for uveitis, an inflammation of part of the eye that sometimes occurs with vitiligo.
Further treatment may not be necessary if, for example, you only have a small patch of vitiligo or your natural skin colour is very light. You may be referred to a doctor who specialises in treating skin conditions (dermatologist) if further treatment is needed.
Vitiligo treatment is usually lengthy and challenging. Clinical markers, such as trichrome sign, confetti-like depigmentation, and Koebner phenomenon, may be more convenient and noninvasive than serum biomarkers for assessing the prognosis of vitiligo.
-B12 deficiency can cause white spots on the skin, called vitiligo. The deficiency can affect the melanin production and lead to loss of pigmentation in certain areas of the skin.
You'll usually spot signs of vitiligo on the face, hands, elbows and knees. It's unusual to see tinea versicolor on the hands or legs. TV is most common on the chest or back. And the discoloration isn't the same for both conditions.