How Does Vitiligo Look Like

[aliva]

He moved to another state and lived in a small town amidst nature. There he continued medication, which sometimes used to have after effects. He used to respond to every advice & advertisement which promised to cure the white spots, but nothing worked. Whenever he looked at the mirror, the white patches would mock at him.

He suffered silently. He got used to cruel and sometimes innocent comments from relatives, friends and colleagues that hurt him. He felt like an outcast in society.
Finally, a qualified dermatologist helped him with first diagnosing the problem and then prescribed him oral and tropical cream application. But his patches were so stubborn oral pills & creams could not help him. The next treatment was ultraviolet lamp light and it helped him much.

It’s my sincere request to all that when you see a person with Vitiligo, do not wince or show revulsion. Do not pity him or her. Show compassion and accept the person as a normal human being. This will help the person to adjust well in society and shine by their intelligence rather than by their looks.

[dhruv1988]

hi one of my friend said he has vitiligo,but he just wanted to know how does it look like .Can anyone describe me how does it look like.

There were de-pigmented patches all over the scalp in simple the white patches over the skin in vitiligo. Vitiligo is skin condition which occurs due to chemical reaction, nerve damage or it could be genetic factor. But today there are lots of treatment available in the market also Vitiligo surgery is available to treat vitiligo disease. Micro pigmentation is another treatment for vitiligo.

[rdholakia95]

Vitiligo is a disease of skin pigments called melanin. It is a disease where there is a loss of skin pigment or color, which could be due to various reasons. Vitiligo affects about 2% of world population and close to 8% of Indian and Mexican population. Vitiligo is not a serious disease, medically speaking. It has more social significance than medical importance, as it does not cause any major harm to the body. Cosmetically and personally, it can affect lives of the suffers especially in those society, where color of skin is given importance; specially among brown and dark skin people.
In simple words, vitiligo is caused by one or two of the following processes:
1. Melanin cell destruction, leading to loss of color on skin, leading to white patches of vitiligo.
2. Defective process of melanin formation, hence, no skin color formation
The exact cause for above processes remain unknown. There are some theories which are considered responsible for the above processes in vitiligo. In brief, genetic and immunological factors in the background are considered responsible for vitiligo.
Due to destruction of the melanin (pigment) cells due to lesser known processes (largely what is called as an auto-immune disorder) the normal skin starts loosing pigments from various parts of the skin, in a varying speed and extent. Our clinical experience based on the treatment of over 5000 cases (as on Dec 2011), suggests that there is a strong genetic factor in the background of most cases, especially those who have extensive vitiligo or those who have vitiligo affecting the finger-tips, toes, lips or the genitals. The indication of strong genetic factor is observed in the form of family history of one or more of the auto-immune diseases such as vitiligo, alopecia areata, diabetes, under active thyroid, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or allergies.
The vitiligo sufferers are observed all over the world, including the white skin population. However, epidemiologically most cases are recorded in India (8.8 %) and Mexico. Estimated 1-2% of the Americans have vitiligo as per the survey made by the American Academy of Dermatology. Males and females are affected equally, including children of all age groups. It may begin at any age. Childhood vitiligo is not uncommon. We have registered cases as young as three months old, to late onset vitiligo at the age of 80 years.
In short, vitiligo is not as serious disease as it has been thought about. However, it calls for attention as it requires to be treated and managed.