How Is a Vitiligo Skin Condition Diagnosed and Treated?

 How Is a Vitiligo Skin Condition Diagnosed and Treated?

What is Vitiligo?

Vitiligo is defined as a unique disorder in which some small smooth white areas, also called white patches or macules, start appearing on a person’s skin due to reduced melanin by melanocytes at that particular site. Typically, this skin condition starts on the face, hands, feet, nose, forearms, etc, and needs to be checked by a skin specialist before it gradually spreads to the entire body of the patient. In general, just 1% or so of the entire global population has vitiligo.

How can someone diagnose Vitiligo?

Typically, the white patches of this skin condition are easily visible to all on the skin, But various healthcare providers and dermatologists generally use a Wood’s lamp for its diagnoses. That light shines UV (Ultraviolet) rays onto the patient’s body to help differentiate vitiligo affected area from other resembling skin conditions involving loss of skin color like

1. Chemical leukoderma

2. Tinea Versicolor

3. Albinism

4. Pityriasis alba, and many more.

How is Vitiligo Treated?

In general, there is no precise cure for Vitiligo. The primary goal however for its treatment is to create a patient’s uniform skin tone by either:

• restoring color – rep-pigmentation

• eliminating entire body color – depigmentation

Moreover, some other common treatments presented by professional skin specialists generally include the following:

1. Camouflage Therapy

Usually involves using sunscreen that should shield UVA or UVB with an SPF of 30 or even higher. The use of such sunscreens typically reduces tanning, thereby significantly minimizing the contrast between normal and affected skin. In addition, if vitiligo affects the hairs of a person then they may be dyed.

2. Depigmentation Therapy

Usually involves giving a drug named monobenzone to depigment the colored skin and turn them into white to match the color of Vitiligo-affected areas.

3. Re-pigmentation Therapy

In this kind of therapy, dermatologists usually suggest corticosteroids either to take orally as pills or to apply topically as creams. In addition, it also includes topical vitamin D analogs and topical immunomodulators like calcineurin inhibitors.  

4. Light Therapy

1. Narrowband ultraviolet B, abbreviated as NB-UVB, generally requires two to three vitiligo treatment sessions for several months per week/

2. In addition, many excimer lasers usually emit a wavelength of UV light closer to narrow-band UVB. So, these lasers are typically better for small and targeted vitiligo regions.

3. Moreover, the unique combination of UVA and oral psoralen is utilized to treat larger skin regions affected by vitiligo.

5. Surgeries

There are two common types of surgeries for vitiligo patients

1. Autologous skin grafts

In this kind of surgery, skin specialists take some normal skin from any part of the patient’s body and use it to cover vitiligo-affected parts. This particular method is also sometimes called mini grafting. Some possible complications of it include infection, failure to re-pigment, and scarring.

2. Micropigmentation

It is referred to as a type of tattooing that is generally applied to the lips of individuals affected by Vitiligo.