Vitiligo

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a skin disorder that causes white patches on the skin. It is an autoimmune disorder in which cells that make pigment (melanocytes) in the skin are destroyed. Owing to this, white patches start appearing on the skin in different parts of the body. The effects of Vitiligo depend on individuals, and the white patches may appear anywhere in the body. The most common areas affected by Vitiligo are lips, genitalia, finger tips, face but it can occur at any site.

Symptoms :

• Loss of skin color in patches.
• Whitening or graying of hair on your scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, and beard prematurely.
• The retina (the inner layer of your eye) will also lose or change color.

Types of Vitiligo:

• Segmental vitiligo: If the patches only appear on the one side or segment of the body, it is called segmental vitiligo. This type of vitiligo causes to the people at an early age and expands for a few years.
• Non-segmental vitiligo: When both sides of the body are affected by the discoloration issue, this comes under the type of non-segmental vitiligo. This is a common type and nearly 90% of patients are suffering from this. The affected areas expand with time as the short-lived burst discoloration grew with the new pigment-losing cells.

Treatments:

• Medication- topical creams , oral tablets, antioxidants.
• NB-UVB- whole body, spot
• Laser – Excimer Laser
• Surgery- write about- surgery done in which patients- stable disease not spreading no new lesion for atleast 1 year. types- minipunch grafting, split thickness grafting, suction blister, non cultures melanocyte transfer- elaborate little each.